Everyone knows what it’s like to ride the bus to and from school: it’s cramped, loud, and let’s face it – buses smell. While it’s very safe and convenient, by the time you get to high school you’re a little sick of it. That’s why sophomores, juniors, and seniors would rather begin driving to school. A majority of students who have their licenses drive to school. Many would agree that the school handles it well. They understand that teenagers would rather have control of when and how they arrive or leave school. What they don’t understand is the major uproar about the student parking lots. The way that the spots were picked is by students simply signing their names for whatever spots are available and turning their signed slip in to the office. Seniors were allowed first pick. Juniors and sophomores, however, were not so lucky. Getting a spot was on a first come, first serve basis. This is a decently fair system, but there is one problem. No proof of driver’s license was required to gain a parking spot. This means that some students, who cannot yet drive, could gain upper lot parking over students who drive to school now and are forced to park in the lower lot. Jacob Dishler, a junior, has been driving to school since the end of last school year. “I know people who don’t drive yet, but have spaces in the upper lot,” Dishler said, “Those spaces are empty every day. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to park there?” You may wonder why it’s such a big deal to have to park in the lower lot. Kayla Hickey, a junior, said, “I’m not upset because it’s a longer walk, I’m mad because it takes me longer to leave school and I’m stuck behind a bus the entire way home. It goes really slow and stops so much that it wastes a lot of my gas money and it makes me late getting home. I have to get my little brother off of the bus or I have work after school. I can’t be late for that.” Juniors and sophomores had to try to get their slips in to the office before all of the upper lot spaces were gone, but seniors almost completely filled the upper parking lot. “After the all of the seniors got their spots, there were only eight left. I tried to turn my slip in the first day I was allowed, but they wouldn’t even look at it. All of the spots were gone already,” Dishler said. If there are empty spots, why not allow them to be filled by someone who needs one? Junior Lauren Barrett said that she is also upset about the parking situation. “I know not every senior is going to drive to school every day. So they could drive once and still get a parking spot in the upper lot,” Barrett said. A proof of driver’s license should be a must to gain a spot in the student parking lot. To those who don’t have a license yet, you should have to wait to sign up for your parking spot. It would also be unfair to allow students who only drive on occasion to have their own personal spot as well. We can work out a simple solution for future years. If a student arrives to school early, they should be able to park wherever they choose. My proposed solution is this: check if a student has a driver’s license, then issue them a parking pass to hang on their mirrors. Then they can park in whatever space is available when they arrive each day. By doing this, we can stop the complaints and give the responsibility of getting a good parking spot to the students.