Prior to the 2016-17 school year, the administrators talked up the idea of having an hour in the middle of the day to use how we please.

They had a compelling pitch: this hour could be used for catching up on homework, socializing, meeting with teachers, catching up with late work or even catching up on some much-needed sleep.

The first week of school was spent hyping it up and getting us Tiger Paws-ready. The beginning was a success, as were the many days to follow — but once the novelty wore off it became less effective.

When the idea of Tiger Paws was introduced to the students, it was advertised as a time to decompress and relieve some stress from the overachieving student body.

As the school year progressed, several clubs meetings, study sessions and practices started being scheduled during this time. It became less of a relaxing period and more of a smorgasbord of activities that needed extra attention.

I like the fact that these are now scheduled during the day rather than after school, but I would have liked to have been informed of all the activities that would be scheduled during Tiger Paws rather than being told it was a time for me to “decompress.”

Along these lines, not all students decompress in the same way. For some, it is hard to relax and relieve tension when you can’t even find a place to sit and eat lunch. There aren’t many places in the school for more introverted people to completely unwind, as everywhere you go is full of people trying to do the same thing.

Tiger Paws has definitely had its benefits, helping students get more work done during the day rather than at home — but it also has many flaws in advertisement as well as layout.

I don’t find myself nearing the end of fourth hour and looking forward to the next hour, which is what I hoped for in the new system.