Alright kiddos, it’s time to talk about respect. Remember those posters that were all around your grade schools—“In order to get respect, you have to give it”? I think it’s time to readdress this theme. For all of us, whether we are returning to campus or living and learning here for the first time, there is a constant need to respect the emotions, opinions and property of everyone around us.

Let’s start in the classroom. Hopefully, you’re in courses you like and are truly interested in; if you are, it’s easy to ask intelligent questions and pay attention. Even if there are days when you’re preoccupied or bored, at least have the restraint not to be texting, checking Facebook or listening to your iPod. Not only does the professor take offense—both my parents are professors and will attest to this—but so do other students. I’m not upset because you yourself are not focused, I’m angry because you’re distracting me and disallowing my acquisition of information. You have lost a bit of my respect.

Next, let’s address living situations. Whether you’re in a triple room as a freshman or a single room in an off-campus apartment, there’s little truly personal space. Obviously, there will need to be negotiation about when the TV can be on, when music can be playing out loud, where everything is stored and who buys the next box of cereal; surely, though, those little things aren’t as simple as they sound. When someone eats the last bit of cereal without replacing it or decides to stay in the shower a little too long, it shows his or her lack of regard for the other people who are relying on the same resources.

Over the past four years, my roommates and I have developed a profound care and respect for each other, in no small part due to the small things that allowed our relationships to form at the start.

Finally, on a broader scale, the community in which we live is spectacular, and there are many of us who enjoy it and wish to see it thrive. It’s impressive that so many Wash. U. students are involved in service projects around St. Louis and around the world. This university and this city both have a hand in all sorts of steps forward, such as advancing medical research, creating new visual art and music and acting as a driving force for political and social change. Many of us are proud to have found ourselves within this community; we respect it and feel responsible for it.

Since moving back to school this year, I’ve seen more than my share of people who do not respect their neighbors—both students and St. Louis residents. One group has, on at least five occasions just in the past week and a half, had parties after which they don’t clean up until late into the next day. This means a load of red Solo cups strewn across their yard…and my yard. Sorry guys, you don’t have my respect.

To me, respect is a given; you don’t have to do anything special to receive a basic level of it. You can gain more strata of respect over time, but in the beginning, you’ve earned it, and keep earning it, as long as you don’t do anything to taint it. As we start this year, we all have new opportunities to gain, or possibly lose, respect. Don’t blow it.