Problems of a Left-Handed College Student
You never really think about it. Which hand you write with, use a computer mouse with, or even use a fork with. It’s just part of who you are.
Growing up, I always thought I was just like everyone else, until someone pointed out that I wrote with my left hand. Nothing too outrageous, right? And luckily, in college, almost everything is made to be easily accessible for anyone from any walk of life.
But have you ever tried to look for a left handed desk in a lecture hall?
It’s not so much a hassle, but it is something a left-handed student has to think about.
I never really wondered about how I have to adjust my natural instincts until I realized that I was almost the only left-handed person in my classes. In fact, only 15% of all the population is left handed. And those of you in that 15% can agree with me that there are just some things that you wish were simpler.
3 Things a College Lefty Has to Consider:
- Desks. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to sit in the far back corner of a classroom because that’s where the only left-handed desk is. In lecture halls, they’re nowhere to be found. To maximize space, my university has fold-out desktops over the right side of every chair. It means there are more chairs in a lecture hall, but I have to reach over to write my notes in class.It may not seem like that big of a deal, but when your dominant hand has to strain to type or write, it is not a pleasant workout feeling. Thankfully, if there isn’t anyone sitting on my left side, I am able to use their fold out desk. Just one small way I put my college education to good use.
- Notebooks. Oh, notebooks. The bane of my existence. Anything with a spiral or any binder clip is quite a challenge. I have to write with my hand on the spiral, and it’s a little hard to keep everything neat and not drift all over the paper. It makes my handwriting a little wonky when I have to rest my hand on the edge of a notebook. Not to mention that when writing, I get that graphite smudge from dragging my hand over my freshly written words instead of writing the words before my hand gets to them, like a right handed person would do. Just another battle wound of writing so much.
- Eating cafeteria-style. I’m always on a conscious lookout for an end seat in the cafeteria, or else I’m bumping elbows with the person next to me. It’s a funny occurrence the first time, but it get’s less and less funny as it continues to happen. It’s almost the same for my drinks as well. One time, I put my drink down on the left side, and person next to me thought it was theirs. Thankfully, they liked root beer as much as I do, and we had a good laugh about it while I got a new drink.
Just as a note: I do not feel oppressed nor do I take my left-handedness as a disability. If anything, I enjoy being left-handed. It’s something that makes me instant friends with other left-handed people, and it’s always a good ice breaker. I just think it’s interesting to have a different view of the world explained to you. Everything always seems normal until you see it from another person’s perspective.
So, to my left-handed brethren, I leave you with the knowledge that I, as much as you do, understand the complications of being a lefty.
Thoughts?
Are you left handed? Do you struggle with things at school? What about right-handed struggles? (Do they exist?) Tell me in the comments!
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Posted on on February 17, 2013 / Filed Under: College Life / Tags: Class, college, Life, student
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Allie S
YES YES YES!!! SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS!!
Pretty much sums up my college experience–I still have nightmares about those desks. First world problems.
Arijana
I’m left handed too and I completely understand what you mean.
My college doesn’t have those kind of chairs and desks for students, it’s a bit different here in Bosnia. Our classrooms are called amphitheaters because they are organized like such, you have chairs, like the ones you have in America, but the entire row of like 20ish-30ish seats has this one long desk, so you can imagine how even harder it is for me to write, I keep bumping my arm with the person next to me. But, like you said, you just kind of get used to it. :)
Liz
THANK YOU. Such a pain in the butt.
Ev
I’ve never understood why left-handed people complain about spiral notebooks. Yes, your hand is on the spiral when you write on half of the pages. Right-handed people have their hand on the spiral when they write on the other half of the pages. Everybody has their hand on the spiral for half of the pages. It’s not a left-handed thing; it’s a spiral notebook thing. If you hate it that much, don’t use spiral notebooks.
Kayla
Its…all…so…True!
Being a southpaw is both a blessing a curse, it makes us unique but also hinders. I despise spiral notebooks with a passion and trying to write on those desks always involved me practically laying on top of them so I didn’t drain the blood from my arm. Not to mention writing with pencils, markers and really inky pens just resulted in a big ol’ mess on the edge of your hand.
Dee
I totally understand about the desks, the books- I usually fold the binder ones in half and slant it to take notes and eating :) my friends have learnt to adjust- we normally eat outside under a tree or something.
I’ve learnt to adjust to the right-handed world I live in.
kathy boukedes
I was late for class once and had to sit in one of those left handed seats. I just accepted it as my penance for being late! I feel your pain/ frustration now! LOL
lily
for the notebook issue…cant you flip it in a way so the spiral is on your right hand?
Cat
The desks never really bother me, I don’t know why. I simply cannot write in a 3 pronged binder, so I stick to the spiral notebooks. I always look for an end or corner seat regardless of whether I’m eating or in class. I think that writing on white boards is one of the biggest challenges; I find that I am constantly smudging or erasing everything as I write it. Also, when I was younger, I decided I was going to make millions for patenting the first ever left-handed camcorder. Yeah, good luck trying to keep a steady shot with one of those when you’re a lefty!
Cat
Oh and one more thing: Purses. They’re designed for right-handed people, and the straps are always backwards when worn on the left shoulder. Big pet peeve of mine.
Madison
I am so glad to read this post! Being a lefty, I really appreciate getting some recognition!
Cameron
Oh my goodness! Finally, someone who UNDERSTANDS!
It’s also an issue when I go to shake hands with someone! Awkward!
And, I agree with everyone else above; you just get used to it after awhile.
Jenna - John Abbott College
True say! I prefer right-handed tables just because I can rest my right arm while i’m writing my notes :P But spiral notebooks can be a hassle – I just write on the back sides of pages and teachers are usually like, “You must be a Southpaw…”
Nevertheless, we tend to do a lot of amazing things. Notable lefties incluce Mozart, Obama, and Alexander the Great :)
Kirsten
I was always stuck in those right handed desks. It made writing notes for 3 hrs extremely difficult, so I started to type them. Also, they make left handed spirals :) I can never write in a binder, and I hate the smudge my hand makes when dragging over what I wrote. Right handers are so lucky. I had a left handed clock in my room (it went counter clockwise, and I could actually read it faster than a normal clock). My friends hated it, but I told them if I have to suck it up in a right handers world, they can deal with one clock.
Sara
I don’t know whether this will be helpful to you, but here is my advice.
Writing left to right was created to suite that 75% of the population who is right handed, but there are many languages which are written right to left.
My mother taught me to write right to left when I was writing for myself (as well as left to right, just so I could complete tests and homework) and it’s not so difficult when you get the grasp of it. You can even get used to read it (and if not, it’s a matter of making a mirrored copy or read your notes through a mirror).
I also use the notebooks to suit me, so I use them upside down, even if the margin looks funny, I don’t have to write with my hand over the spiral.
About the seatings, I cannot give you any advice, since my University has proper desks, and I’ve never had to use one of those chairs-with-desk (only in Music class, but we hardly ever wrote anything…)
I think you have to adapt things to suit your hands, not the other way round.
emily
this is so true! walking into a class with a friend on the first day and being like “where should we sit” and then im just like “well i would love a lefty desk..” and then we end up in some awkward spot where the lefty desks are
Sarah
Wow, as a right handed person I’ve never thought about how inconvenient ‘little’ things like that must be! I’ve always taken for granted that they work for me. Interesting article!
Emily
Bless this post….That’s all I have to say.
Mel
It’s funny, I’m a lefty and I’ve had the same desk and writing issues as you, but I never had issues eating until I moved from the UK to the US. UK manners dictate that you always hold the fork in your left hand and knife in your right – no switching back and forth like in the US. So you don’t bump into each other nearly as much!
Sassafras75
In school I always used loose leaf paper on a clipboard and then put my notes in a binder. In the office I would use a notebook with a spiral on top and a Post It note on my hand helps with the smudging.
Kay
How about steno notebooks? The ones with the springs on top? Maybe that can make writing easier.
Joanne
Okay, while I can see how these things can be annoying, you should look at them from the perspective of just that: annoyances. They really don’t make life any more difficult.
The Desk Problem: As a right-handed person, I’ve used left-handed desks before. No, it’s not as convenient, that’s true. But was it really that much of a hassle? Absolutely not.
The Spiral Notebook Problem: While walking through my college’s store I stumbled across something that made me die laughing. Left-handed notebooks. The spiral binding was on the right side rather than the left. The reason I found this funny was because, as stated above, left-handed individuals have their hand on the binding for half of the pages, but right-handed individuals have their hand on the binding for the other half. It’s not a “left-handed problem.” I solve this for myself by not writing as close to the binding.
The Cafeteria Problem: Just try to sit on the end or by yourself.
These things aren’t “problems.” They’re just annoyances.
Becky
Flip the binder over?
Lydia
I’m ambidextrous, so I can make stuff easier by doing them with my right hand but if it gets tired i can just switch to my left :)
Mary
Totally laughed reading this article because everything is so true. There is nothing more frustrating than sitting in a righty desk in a note-taking intensive class. Or seeing someone use the only lefty desk as a seat for their purse!
Emma
I’m left handed too and I just keep my book on a slant so my hand never goes over the ink meaning there’s no smudging.
Brenda
Thank You! I have the exact same problems. I hate that I can’t use desks, or Gel Pens (no matter how pretty they are, when you make a huge stain on the paper, it’s not so pretty anymore), or all the awkard situations when you have to ask someone to move places on the table or so. And classes in Ecuador don’t tend to have facilities for left-handed students.
But even with all that, I love being left-handed.
Rikka
Same problem in my country, so I definitely feel your pain.
Musical Lynn
I too am also left handed!! :))
Mary
The desks are annoying, but I’m left handed and I still don’t get why people complain so much about spiral notebooks. As several people have mentioned it doesn’t matter if you’re left or right handed, at some point your hand will be on the spiral. If it is a big annoyance, just get the ones with the spiral at the top.
Bella
YESSSSSSS
and another thing is when we had to use erasable pens when we were younger, everything i would write would be erased by the outside of my pinky by the time i was done with the sentence !!! i would literally come home with glumps of blue or black ink on my hand…
and another thing.. whenever people see that i am a lefty, it is honestly like an epidemic to them..like im an alien or something! haha people are so amazed !!!
cath
XD this is SO ME!!!! XD Totally understand what you feel! XD This is the best thing I have read in a long time XD XD perfect!!!
Lauren J
I am right handed, but I hold my pencil to where I have to hold my paper slanted, like a left handed person, so I understand that whole smudging thing! My mom is left handed though, and since she taught me how to write I guess her ways rubbed off on me.
Cristina
Ha! I do the same thing you do, I use the other fold out desk. Not many people seem to care though. It’s rare for people to really notice, but it is uncomfortable when I’m eating and someone sits on my left :)
Cristina
… just for a moment I guess because I’m ambidextrous… that’s probably why it’s not noticeable, but I have a preference for using my left to write :P
Vika
I am also a lefty, and usually the lefty desks are at the back of the room, and when I get to class early, I just pull one of them to the front of the room. I shouldn’t be forced to sit in the back in the only choice while righties can sit wherever they want 99.9% of the time! I just either don’t say anything or, as I am moving my desk to the front, if someone asks, I just say it is like handicap, in a way. Who agrees with me here? :)
Laur
You are so right….I’m left handed too, and it’s so hard sometimes, specially in the classroom!!! When I played lax my coach used to make me wait while she taught everyone else on the team the move for the day, then would work with me while the rest of the team played attempting to teach me….I love being left handed, but it is inconvenient
A
I am actually right handed, but last year I suffered an injury to my right hand and had to start using my left hand. It was only then that I realised these things! It was inconvenient sometimes, but it wasn’t that big an issue. On the bright side, I am now ambidextrous!
Chelsea
I’m a righty, but just a heads up, hand sanitizer works wonders on getting pen ink out.
Kyndra
OH THE PAIN OF BEING A LEFTY !!! These are all so true ! I’ve learned to not drag my hand across the my words though and loose leaf paper really helps with the notebook problem.
Marianne yim
I’m a left handed high school student, and it helps to know that there are others out there like me. My dad and I are the only lefties in the family. It doesn’t really bother me that I’m left handed until those kind of situations that you mentioned occur. Some can be quite funny, though. And like you, I also get a lot of pencil smears on my hand since I’m always scribbling in a notebook. Thanks for sharing anyway- I’ll be on the lookout for those non-leftie friendly problems when I go to college:):)
Daneka
I am left handed but I’ve never really had THAT many problems with it. I mean yeah some things are annoying and I have had instances where I wish things were a little easier for me being left handed. It affected me in cheerleading, field hockey, etc. and I can definitely relate to the spiral notebook thing. As far as the desks in lecture halls, I kinda feel like it’s not a problem for me at all. I guess maybe because I’m double jointed and I’m forced to turn my notebook completely sideways. *sigh* Struggles of a left handed person.
But hey, there aren’t that many of us so it makes us super special ;)
Aaron
Not much help with the desks but there are left-handed notebooks, binders, folders, pens, pencils and other stationery solutions that pretty much address all of the writing issues mentioned in these posts.