As a new driver, parallel parking can be the most terrifying part of driving. It is something most of us probably failed on our driver’s test and as someone who has had their license for over a year, I still hate it. It is painful to attempt the perfect three-step parking job but even worse when you decide that the 10 minutes you have spent trying to straighten out was not worth it, speeding off in embarrassment.
I can tell you that a dream shared by all sophomores is to own a parking pass for the school’s parking lot. Guaranteed parking and no need to parallel park, what more could you want?
This is why I was so excited to become a junior, because I would be able to purchase a pass.
This year, Puyallup High School decided to implement a new system for equally distributing parking passes to students. Students were asked to fill out a sheet of paper specifying which lot they would prefer and then that sheet was entered into a raffle box. The raffle was only for a chance to buy a pass, not to win one.
Parking passes for the first and second lot are currently $40 but before it could be bought, all fines had to be paid. Lots of people had AP fines, book fines, etc. Some people could not pay for these on such short notice, so many people missed out.
Before, students were responsible for showing up to orientation early and hoping that there were passes left over and that was it. The raffle provided an equal chance for all juniors and seniors to get a parking pass, which was really great.
I personally think that the amount of parking available in the lot is ridiculous for the amount of students at our school. Currently, there are a total of 1,214 students enrolled as either a junior or a senior. The amount of parking spaces available in every lot comes to a whopping total of 270.
I am irritated because I did not win a parking pass on any of the draws along with countless others. This means I have to compete for parking with other juniors and seniors that did not win along with incoming sophomore drivers.
I have to be at school by 7:15 in the morning, 40 minutes prior to the start of school. That is 40 minutes I could spend sleeping, putting myself together, eating breakfast and other activities the school recommends to remain a healthy student.
We are forced to come to school at the crack of dawn, sit in classrooms for six and a half hours and endure the most boring years of our lives. I am appalled at the fact that more parking spaces cannot be provided for us.
Last year, the only thing I looked forward to for junior year was being able to park in the lot, but now my dreams have been crushed by the ugly reality that is parking at our school.