Going to Piedmont University, every student thought it would be quiet and calm. A small campus in a tiny town nestled in the foothills of the mountains — what a peaceful environment … until the chainsaw ramps up.
Each morning, while students lie in bed in their dorms, trying to catch some rest before morning classes begin, a loud buzzing noise breaks the silence. For a moment, students might think they’re dreaming about being at a NASCAR race, working at a construction site or attending a Monster Truck rally. But the sounds keep growing louder and louder. Turns out, that dream comes into a reality. We’re jolted from our sleep, glance out the window, and see Shook’s doing their usual work.
“From weekly maintenance to complete renovations, you’ll discover that Shook’s executes every task neatly, efficiently, and with limited disruption,” Shook’s writes on their website.
However, that “limited disruption” has become a daily disturbance for Piedmont students. We already struggle with getting enough sleep, with classes, athletic practices, extracurricular activities and jobs reserving only those late-evening hours for schoolwork. But Shook’s gives us unwanted wake-up calls long before our alarms go off.
Shook’s cranks up their lawnmowers and weed whackers around 6:30 a.m. Most College students have a very different schedule than the average person. With classes earlier in the day, athletic practices in the afternoon, and work and/or extracurricular activities at night, most students do their homework and study well after midnight. We sleep in until we must go to class, ideally nothing before 9:30 a.m. We prefer not to be woken up before then, especially by a company with no relation to our education.
There’s no question that Piedmont’s campus is beautiful, and we understand it takes frequent work to remain that way. The issue lies in the frequency of Shook’s’ landscaping and their timing. For the roughly 800 students who live on campus, this is our home. We pay rent to live here. We doubt Shook’s would crank up their leaf blowers in a subdivision at 7 a.m., so where’s the consideration for us?
As a business serving a college campus, Shook’s needs to understand the dynamics of college students — a college campus is not like a typical business. People live here. There are plenty of areas around campus — the quad, the athletic complex, the academic buildings — where Shooks can prioritize their early morning work. The areas around residence halls should be worked on later in the day.
This is our home. Shook’s needs to show us the respect they would show other residential areas.
