With only 15 spots available for juniors in the main parking lot, the junior parking situation is extremely competitive for students who don’t want to park by the baseball field located off campus below the sports field.
The main parking lot spots usually fill up at 7:10 a.m., according to junior Michael Doyle, who regularly parks in the junior section of the main parking lot.
According to assistant principal Martin Enriquez, who is in charge of student parking at Carmel High School, juniors were not able to park on the main parking lot until about four years ago.
“A couple years ago, it was all senior parking,” Enriquez, says. “We have always noticed that we had a few empty spots, and we hated for them to go to waste.”
According to campus supervisor Tami Hardisty, the school can’t increase the number of junior parking spots in the main parking lot.
“When the science building came up a few years ago, we opened up 25 spots,” Hardisty recalls, “and it didn’t work because as the year goes on, more people get more cars, and there was no room for seniors.”
Junior Abby Lambert, who is in AP Chemistry, which starts at 7:20 am, states that because of getting to school so early, she usually has a spot.
“Because I have AP Chem and I get here so early in the morning,” Lambert explains, “I can park in the upper lot.”
However, some students who are not in AP Chemistry still get to school early in the morning to grab a junior spot in the main parking lot. According to junior Kaley MacDonald, she gets to school around 7:05, around the same time as the AP Chemistry students.
“It’s a lot more convenient to not have to walk so far,” MacDonald says, “and I can also leave my sports stuff in my car instead of bringing it into school.”
However, there are some juniors who drive to school that wouldn’t even think about parking in the main parking lot.
“There is a lot of traffic there,” junior Nick Doo says. “Honestly, it is kind of nice to avoid that. I don’t mind walking all the way down there.”
Overall, for juniors who want to park in the main parking lot, it’s survival of the earliest.
-Ryan Lin
