One of the great things about BSM is the senior privileges, whether it is having an open campus, or the opportunity to skip a final if you qualify for it. One of the most sought-after senior privileges is parking in the senior lot, but I don’t agree that it’s that great.
At the end of my junior year, in late May, my classmates and I got a glimpse of this privilege when the seniors graduated. Compared to the Beth El lot, where both juniors and sophomores park, there were significantly fewer people needing spots, making me think parking would be easier. However, I didn’t quite understand how much of a problem this was actually going to be for me, especially as someone who doesn’t pride myself on being the best morning person.
I usually arrive at school at the same time and have no problem getting to my first-period class on time. I arrive at school at approximately 7:45, where I proceed to sit in a line waiting to get into the school parking lot for fifteen minutes, not being able to do anything about it. Originally, I thought that the traffic would only last for the first day of school and that it would clear up in the next few days. However, the traffic was the same the day after, and the weekend after that. In my opinion, having a traffic light at the entrance would make sure every line would get an even flow of traffic, which would make it safer for the traffic attendant, lead to less error with timing, and decrease traffic overall.
I don’t even want to get started on the problems my peers have getting out of the parking lot at the dreaded time of 2:30. As someone with a free period at the end of the day I never really had this issue, but one day I had a baseball game later that night and I had to take my brother home. I had heard some rumblings about the mayhem that happens at the end of the day but never got to experience it, so with that being said I hurried out to my car to “beat the traffic”. Or so I thought. I sat in traffic for twenty minutes waiting to go home, thinking about how we could fix this. While brainstorming, I thought about my old school, Providence Academy. They had the same problem, and they made an extra exit that went right onto the road. My plan would be to make an exit out of the faculty and staff parking lot by the Haben going right into the frontage road to Highway 100.
In conclusion, the senior privileges at BSM are positive, but if we make a few changes to the parking lot they would be much better. While the senior parking lot is highly sought after, the burden you have to go through in the morning and afternoon is something that needs to be improved. However, the addition of exits or the addition of a traffic light can help reshape the parking lot. If we address these issues we can not only enhance our senior year but it creates a better experience for years to come.