The beginning of the year comes with complications involving almost everything, but upperclassmen have a lot of focus centered around driving. For many juniors, it is their first opportunity to drive to and from school, and while that is exciting, it also causes confusion. Students had the opportunity to buy parking passes last June, but many were unaware of this option. Many instead were forced to buy their pass the first week of school. This caused many cases of illegal parking from students parking without passes; until September 7th when passes were available to buy. As the passes were distributed, even more frustration was caused.

For years, students parking at the Van Hoosen Middle School parking lot have voiced negativity towards the way parking passes have been handled. Most people are used to the “first come, first served” method, but in recent years it has turned into a raffle. Seniors used to have seniority, and almost always claimed a majority of the athletic entrance, but now it is just as likely for a junior to receive an “athletic lot” parking pass, which students consider the best and most convenient.

After students received passes, many were unhappy with the spot they were given. This resulted in students parking in different lots, or even creating fake passes. The issue with this is that the students who do have to park in the athletic or auditorium lots could be unable to because there is not enough space. Students assume since there are extra spots in the auditorium entrance, that they can park there, but few know those spots are actually for visitors to the school.

“It’s really annoying since there’s already so much traffic. Just knowing people park there when they know they aren’t supposed to is even more frustrating,” said junior Melissa Carolan.

Those who are parking behind the school on the Highlander Highway have to deal with the current construction of tearing out the old baseball field. The fence used to gate off the area of construction blocks the original path most students take into the school. This is not causing many issues currently, but could soon. When winter brings snow and ice, the hill will most likely create additional problems with the downhill walk considering the steep and uneven terrain.

Even worse, many students believe it is unfair that the prices for passes on Highlander Highway are the same price as the passes in the athletic lot. Adams students pay $108 for parking in the athletic entrance, the auditorium entrance, and Highlander Highway, and students who park at Van Hoosen pay $85. Considering the multiple issues with parking, students believe passes should be easier to obtain, and at a lower price.

“A lot of people’s only option is driving themselves to school. It seems really harsh that we have to spend so much money just to be able to legally get to school. Cars are already so expensive,” said junior Tim Greiss.

This coming summer, the school will be going under further construction, and one of the renovations is a new parking lot. This will hopefully resolve some of the issues caused by limited parking at Adams. Although students complain about prices or the spot they are stuck with, plenty of students are relieved to at least have a spot this year.