Eliza Goldberg ’17

An open letter to underclassmen who park on campus without a permit

I’m going to preface this by saying that as a junior, I parked at Wakeman. Come April, while other people in my grade were constantly paying off tickets, I was still taking my twice-daily walk to and from my car.

Yet last year, if people on my grade decided to park on campus, they would park by the pool, where no senior is generally interested in parking. These people would receive countless tickets, eventually paying more money for their unauthorized parking than the seniors were paying for their pass.

Now, this year, underclassmen have been parking on campus since the first day of school. But instead of parking in staff or by the pool, they’ve been taking precious real-estate spots: by the tennis courts, on the hill, by the fields. Day after day, I watch underclassmen confidently roll into senior areas, taking spots from people in my grade.

There is not enough parking for all of us. I’m sorry, but there just are not enough spots for both the underclassmen and the seniors to get normal parking spots. Considering the seniors actually paid to park on campus, it makes sense that they get to park in desired areas.

Even better, somehow underclassmen are slipping by without receiving or paying for tickets. So not only are the underclassmen taking the spots seniors paid for, they’re not even paying the repercussions.

Because the underclassmen  have taken all of the senior parking spots, seniors are being forced to park in obscure places or in staff parking. And guess what? The seniors are receiving tickets! I have multiple senior friends who have parked in staff parking because they could not find a single other spot, only to receive a red slip on their car at the end of the day. The worst part of it is, each time, these seniors have been parked next to stickerless underclassmen who don’t receive tickets.

I get it. Life seems great for you—you are getting by without a walk from your car or tickets to pay. However, I hate to break it to you: You are not entitled to a spot at school.

We paid $50 dollars to park on campus. We will be gone on internships soon enough, and then underclassmen will be able to park wherever they want. But for now, if you want to risk parking here, park in staff or by the pool. Pay your tickets. It is simply ridiculous that the senior class is losing its parking privileges because underclassmen are taking it.

Thanks,

An annoyed senior