Many things one thinks while in school about school are colored with a dissentful bias and occasionally an illogical and over-impassioned thought stream carrying it. Luckily, school hallways are not so complex nor debated an issue that one may make of, say, a cranky teacher.
In fact, anything negative I may have to say about them cannot penetrate past the vital point that they are a backbone of a student's school day. Not to say they're vital. What's wrong, after all, with the invertebrate? And too, sitting there reading, I doubt you often think about your own spine that you're ruining leaning into the display.
The very first thing anyone would acknowledge entering anything would be that they are in fact entering something, be it a living room, cardboard box, or evil volcano lair. So when a student comes to school, generally the first thing they will see is the hallways. They will go to homeroom, or maybe if they're early the auditorium will be designated to sit and loiter in until first bell. After homeroom, they will go to one class, and after, another, and so on.
Often this three or so minute stretch seems like a much longer part of the day. Today, for example, I probably spent around 27-30 minutes in them, and, according to my schedule, I spent 5 hours and 49 minutes in classes. Yet, it feels like at minimum a quarter of my day was between them, and maybe half today in particular. Why is this? For one thing, in many classes it is not a matter of much skill to be able to zone out, or to be bored (regardless of how engaging the class may be), or to be tired in the morning and struggle to stay awake. As well, they will tend to not be quite so innately interesting and will drag on while the student sits in in one place, nearly stagnant. These short breaks in our education afford a much needed psychological break as well:
a) Movement. I pity anyone who would goes to a school lasting the same length as my own who only has one classroom to be in, for whatever reason, as I also feel sympathy for some of my teachers. But just this little bit is extremely revitalizing, after 45 minutes often without any.
b) Transition. Here is a spot where I must again feel sympathy. A student generally has many classes a day, and all of these are completely different environments and each expects to pick up right where it left off the previous day, and so also require a different, saved mindset. The time between is savored.
c) Suspension of anxiety. When traveling in the halls, one has a specific plan. They must focus to a certain extent on what they are doing, where they are going, whether they should cut through this stream of people or follow that, will they stop at their locker. Perhaps you forgot to do a project for your next class. You may worry about that now, and worry about it when you get to that class, but between you have to get to that class either way. This takes priority over anything else.
d) Social interaction. If a student is lucky, they will be seated next to someone they are good friends with and talk to during breaks in class. If a class is lucky, their teacher will be lax enough to let those that sit next to each other become good friends. Unfortunately, these classes tend to be sparse. Much more likely is the opportunity to at least greet someone you know, and to engage even for a few long seconds in some kind of conversation is very lifting.
All these things, while mostly pertaining to an absence of education, greatly increase one's capacity for learning. I doubt but very few would say that a good mood does nothing for a person's ability to learn.
So hallways are good. Of course, I also have some complaints. To sample: These hallways that seem so incredibly important are banal and unappealing aesthetically; They are far too homogeneous for a student that is new to them; The efficiency of travel on their strange shapes is more than questionable; The efficiency of the people traveling on them is more than questionable; It goes on.
None of these though are any more than specifics that, ideally, could be removed, and none of them stand up to the great benefits of internal serenity and noisy peace and comfortable change that are received from a few minutes walking across a long tiled floor.