For juniors like myself, having to look out the windows that face the senior parking lot and see all the empty spaces was utter torture.
Now that all of the parking spaces have been assigned, the feeling of hope and anxiety many juniors felt in the days leading up to the lottery have transformed into disgruntlement over how and when the spots were assigned.
Parking spaces are supposed to make coming and going to and from the school more convenient and help ease the strain of after school activities and sports, but the administration has always used a completely random lottery system as a way to distribute the available spots when they should be given out based on merit and need. It isn’t fair for students who leave right after school and go home to get a spot when there are athletes and people participating in other after school activities coming and going. Students who stay after school for various activities don’t have the option of riding the bus home, and it quickly becomes a pain trying to find a ride home. For those whose parents work late, depending on a friend to give you a ride can be extremely unreliable. Besides feeling like a free-loader, you could get stranded at school if you can’t find another teammate or club member to give you a ride.
Yes, juniors can park in the senior parking lot after school, but if they can’t find a spot to park in in the morning, they won’t have a car to park in the afternoon.  Yes, juniors can park on Rolling and Hillside in the morning, but depending on other peoples’ ability to parallel park that day (aka leaving half a car length between cars), there might not be any spots open.  Murphy’s Law, every single time I try to get a spot on Rolling, there isn’t any room.  I then wind up having to park three blocks away in the neighborhood across the street, walk the three blocks, and wait to cross the street. Assuming that you will get a spot on Rolling is a gamble with low odds of winning—and when you’re trying to get to class on time in the morning, the last thing you want to be gambling with is your time. These are rather extreme measures to go to for a parking spot, but there really aren’t any alternatives unless I want to walk all the way home after practice.
Besides afterschool activities, students’ GPAs should also be taken into account. Since the minimum requirement for participation in VHSL sports is a 2.0, that should also apply to parking spaces. Having a parking space is a privilege, and it needs to be earned on and off the field or afterschool activity.
These should all be requirements for juniors to be eligible for the few parking spaces available to juniors. Something as significant as a parking spot shouldn’t be left to chance.