If you drive to school regularly, you are most likely familiar with Sophomore Street. If you ask anyone what it is like most will boil it down to one word: Chaos.
Many high school parking lots can already be stressful. But for sophomores, finding a place to park has become its own daily challenge.
Because sophomores are not allowed to park in the main lot, they are forced to resort to “Sophomore Street”: an area near campus on Linden Ave N where sophomores park their cars during the school day.
While the street gives sophomores a place to park, it creates a battle for who can find a spot first.
Every morning before school, Sophomore Street becomes crowded with cars trying to squeeze into limited parking spots.
The street is far too narrow, and whenever you park in any spot, it feels like you shouldn’t park there. Students arrive at different times and often rush to not be late to class. This can be very dangerous because there is a high probability of getting into an accident, given you are in such close proximity to other vehicles.
Because students who park on Sophomore Street are often very new to driving, even though they have their license, that does not mean they are a good driver all of the time – distracted driving is frequent.
We need to be thinking about solutions to these dangerous issues. One solution is to simply get to school a little early. It never hurts to be early, and you have time to kick back and relax before your classes. Most importantly you get a spot without getting a headache in the process.
All you have to do is wake up a little bit earlier, and in the long run it will help because you might get a job in the future where you have to wake up early, so why not start the habit now, and also not get into a collision?
A second solution is to be more cautious with driving. After getting your license, usually most people become less cautious when driving because they already passed the test, so who cares? Right? But it is seriously important to stay alert, be mindful of others, and remember you are driving a vehicle that weighs over a ton. You have immense responsibility driving a car to school, and a huge amount of privilege, so don’t ruin it for others with your inconsiderate driving.
There is always the option of carpooling, too, because not only does it save gas and it is less bad for the environment, it would make the street less crowded.
But the whole point is to create less traffic, which then creates less danger for students just trying to get to school safely. Just make sure your carpool driver has their six months so they don’t get their licence taken away.
Sophomore Street isn’t all bad. Sophomores are extremely lucky that they even get a spot to park, but you just need to be responsible with your driving and parking.
