College life comes with many unwritten rules. As of the writing of this article, one of them is no longer unwritten. Moving forward, your unassigned seats in class are now officially assigned. You can thank me later.

Let me paint a picture for you. It’s the first week of class and everybody is hustling to get to their classrooms. I arrive to class 15 minutes early. Why, you ask? I have to get to class early to lay claim to what will become my unassigned seat for the rest of the semester.

The first week is crucial for this. Recently, I discovered I’m as blind as a bat. Because of my new condition, I always try to sit in the front of the classroom. Everyone has different circumstances when deciding where to sit.

The notion of us having assigned seats is crazy to some. Many of your professors will say that you can sit wherever you’d like. Don’t buy into this lie.

They too appreciate it when you don’t move. In big classes, having the same people in the same seats helps professors put names to faces. It makes taking roll easier too.

As a student, you only want to bother with finding a seat the first day of class. Every other day you and I both should be able to casually stroll in with the comfort of knowing we will have a predetermined seat empty and waiting.

Psychology actually plays a big part in us always sitting in the same spots. Robert Gifford, a professor at the University of Victoria, said it has to do with environmental psychology in an article by Quartz.

According to him, we sit in the same spots to better control our surroundings. Our “unassigned” seats are not only chosen by us but also by those around us. It’s a way for us to maintain peace and balance.

Now, whatever peace and balance we have goes out the window when you walk into a classroom and find somebody else in your seat. It’s an awkward situation. It’s infuriating to many.

Moving forward, if any of you encounter this dreaded situation, speak calmly. List your reasons for sitting there. Maybe, like me, you need to be closer to the front. Ask for backup from your peers, because they want everybody in their proper seats too.

If all else fails, find a different seat. The sorrow of that defeat should drive you to get to class earlier next time and reclaim your throne.