I have been getting a lot of comments from people about how I don't leave my door open a lot, if at all. And, I'll be honest, sometimes I just forget to prop the door open. However, I'm a busy person too, and the majority of the time, I'm probably not even in my room. When I am in my room, though, and the door is shut, it does not always mean that I don't want to see or talk to my friends. A closed door does not mean a locked door. That's different. It looks similar, but it's different. If you need or want to see me, then, by all means, knock on my door. If I am in my room, chances are pretty good (like 98 percent) that I will answer the door. (Although, if I am asleep, I will more than likely sleep through any knock you can conjure. Sorry...)

I don't keep my door closed to be closed off from people (most of the time, anyway), but I do need to focus on my studies, which I find incredibly hard to do when I constantly see flickers of movement out of the corner of my eye and hear loud conversations from people walking past my door. I happen to be situated right across from the stairwell, which means almost every person on the floor comes and goes through that door throughout the entire way. It kind of reminds me of sitting at the table by the door at, like, Starbucks or somewhere, and everyone just seems to constantly be opening and shutting the door. Some people can work with that as a background noise -- I can't. It's way too distracting for me. Also, I like to play music as my background, so I keep my door shut to help mute the music I play. I know that just because I like Country music, it does not mean everyone else does too.

I don't mind friends coming in and working on homework as I do either. We can get homework done and hang out at the same time. I cannot do that productively, however, if my door is open, so people walking by just randomly enter my room without asking, plop themselves on my bed and chat with my friend for an hour or two, all the while barely acknowledging my presence. I'm sorry, but it is my room. I don't mind people in it as long as they are polite... and acknowledge that I am there. It's hard for me to focus if my friend's randomly appearing friends constantly visit my room, not to spend time with both of us or do work with us, but to just talk and effectively end up irritating and distracting me from my work. Granted, these randomly appearing friends that are rather rude are far and few between, but the point is that I am trying to get work done and usually my friends come to my room for a quiet place to work also, and that is difficult to achieve when people ebb and flow in and out of my room.

All that being said, I'd like to reiterate my main point: just because my door is closed, does not mean that I refuse to interact with any and all human beings. If you need or want to talk to, spend time with, or do homework with me, then knock on my door (or text me if you don't feel like walking over). I will answer and let you know whether I am up for company just like you do for me.

Yes, my door is closed, but if you chose the right password, it may just open.

I'll give you a hint:

Speak, friend, and enter.