Opinions

Pro: Wakeman parking tradition should end

Lily Caplan ’22, Managing Editor|October 26, 2020

Many parking spots in all areas of the Staples parking lot are left unoccupied during the day, as only half of the senior class is on campus.

Junior year: the year most students get their license. It’s the day finally comes, where you are granted the freedom to drive and go wherever you want, which means thankfully, no more taking the bus. But not everything is ideal when you become a junior driver.

It’s customary at Staples for juniors to park at Wakeman fields. But having to wake up 30 minutes earlier to get a decent parking spot on top of the 10 minute walk, especially in the winter, isn’t fun. So, I think most juniors would opt to park on campus in a heartbeat, if they could.

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The least juniors could get are parking spots that are already empty, junior year is hard enough as it is!

Due to hybrid learning and the use of cohorts, only half of the senior class comes to school each day, which leaves half of the parking spots unoccupied. I believe the junior class should be able to use these spots when they are not in use by seniors.

But the administration is not budging.

“No Junior Parking on Campus,” Assistant Principal Chase Dunlap wrote in a email. “We will not be doubling up on parking spots this year. If you are parking on campus you will be ticketed,”But this is unreasonable.

If cohort A juniors were to park on campus in cohort B senior spots, the seniors would not be affected. They would still have the privilege of parking on campus, without any interference from their junior counterparts. I do understand that parking on campus is a senior luxury, but with half the parking spots empty, juniors should be allowed to use them.

Some seniors may argue that they had to walk from Wakeman everyday and that’s simply how it’s been at Staples for years. However, this is a time like no other for students. Half of the senior class and half of the junior class come in at a time, meaning there is enough parking space for both grades.

Due to the circumstances that Staples students are in, I believe juniors should be allowed to park on campus. The least juniors could get are parking spots that are already empty, junior year is hard enough as it is!