Warning: I’m going to spend the next 450 words complaining.
I talk to my mom more or less every day when I’m at school. If I have the spare time, I like to update my mom on my day and get an update on the way things are going with her, my dad and my sisters at home.
Because I speak to my mom almost daily and my friends from home about weekly, I often talk on the phone at different locations across campus. The other day, I was speaking to my mom while entering the Angela Athletic and Wellness Complex to pick up a healthy meal from Murphy’s Cafe. As I entered the building, my mom repeatedly called out, “Jordan? Are you still there?”
This is just one example of a situation that I am subjected to quite often.
In some parts of my current dorm, Le Mans, I lose cellular service and end up needing to call my mom back. In some parts of the Student Center, and specifically the Cyber Cafe, I lose my cellular service as well. It is immensely frustrating to be in the middle of a conversation, and suddenly have the person on the other line lose what you are saying.
This has not always been the case.
In my previous two years at Saint Mary’s, I have had satisfactory cellular service. I could make calls and enter different buildings across campus without the risk of losing my call.
While I will admit I have very limited working knowledge of the way that cellular service is arranged, and the difference between carriers, I feel that this is a problem that needs to be corrected. Although my personal experience is limited to AT&T particularly, I still think the fact that there was a drop in coverage deserves attention.
When residing away from home, it is important to be able to communicate with people at home. In addition, the need to make calls in general — even to places on campus — makes the need for cellular service vital. I have even experienced issues with campus offices, such as the Health and Wellness Center, picking up on my end of the line.
No longer do I want dropped calls without notice. Students of all cellular service carriers deserve the respect of having an uninterrupted phone call with family and friends.
I do not have a clear solution for this problem, but the problem should be addressed nonetheless.
Saint Mary’s, AT&T, Apple, whoever has the ability to change our cell coverage for the better: please do something. I don’t know how much longer I can go on repeating what I had already said prefaced by “can you hear me now?”
