Moved makeshift sign on desk I wanted

[shoogalypeg]

Bloody hell, our first day back at college and I’m already ruffling feathers 🤣

the only males in the class decided they wanted to change seats so they could all sit together and got one of their mates who was in early to “reserve” the seats they wanted, one of them being the one I usually sit at so I just moved one of the names off the desk and plonked myself down 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️ they were not happy.

This may seem petty on my part but the classroom is always so stuffy and I need to sit by the only window in the room otherwise I start to feel nauseous (I’m perimenopausal) was I being unreasonable??

Nope, you don't get to reserve a desk unless you're sat at it.

That’s what I said to the mate, sorry it’s first come first served but fear I may have started a race to the bottom now to see who can get in the earliest 🤣

It all sounds a bit childish, given that if you are perimenopausal I assume you are not all 16-year olds but adults in some kind of further education setting! How many males are in the class and what does this "sitting together" mean? I assume if moving one place means that they can't sit together they must be forming about 50% of the class, otherwise why would this matter? Are other people reserving seats too so that they can't just put the name down on another seat? Are you in this classroom all day, does it really matter so much who sits where?

There is a wide range of ages but we’re all adults yes.

I’m only assuming they wanted to sit together as names were all in a row at the back of the class (which is incidentally where the window is) they make up 30% of the class and plenty of other spaces where they could sit together lol that didn’t uproot anyone I think they just wanted to be able to chat without being noticed by the lecturer (they’re quite disruptive like that)

All of the others (women) sat in the same place as last year and I only mention sex as this just strikes me as a mild form of male entitlement.

Oh and yea we’re in this room the whole time 🤦🏻‍♀️ is bloody torture even with the window open AND a desk fan.

Yanbu
But I think you need to talk to the college about reasonable adjustments for your additional needs - ie being perimenopausal - so that it is officially understood that you need that seat and you don't have to get into a first-come-first-served arms race.

speak to the college about the medical issues, and ask if they can make a permanent arrangement for you to have that desk. Sounds like a reasonable adjustment. The equality Act is aimed at employers, but presumable the college has an EDI policy.
And it will piss the entitled twats off no end.

The Equality Act also covers educational establishments: they are meant to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students - & for some people, symptoms of the menopause can absolutely be disabling, in the same way that some women experience periods that that are disabling in their severity. It is of course impossible to create a learning environment that is truly accessible to all because needs conflict - but in this instance, assigning you that seat would be a reasonable adjustment.

This is the solution

How come your classes are starting on a bank holiday? And it's still the summer holiday. Autumn term doesn't start till the beginning of Sep at the earliest...

In which country? Do you know where op is based?

My son had the first day of his college course today. It isn't a bank holiday in Scotland.

didn’t wanna make a big fuss but I think speaking to the college is a good idea, thank you so much for the suggestions 🙏

was worried for a min I was being the asshole in this situation 🤣

Not a bank holiday in Scotland

Sorry guys, I need the window. I’ll speak to the EDI team about it later.