Yesterday morning as I sat in my friend’s car waiting to go to class, my anxiety level began to raise. We were stuck in traffic waiting to get into a garage to park. The minutes left until my class became fewer and fewer. We decided to look elsewhere. We were driving around trying to find somewhere to park before our classes began, but every spot seemed to be taken. I began to worry, wondering how we could have left so early and still end up in this situation. Eventually, my friend just dropped me off since my class took attendance and her’s didn’t. I ended up arriving on time, but this got me thinking about the parking situation at USC.
Before coming to USC I remember reading that one of the worst things about the school was the limited parking. It was the one thing I consistently heard over and over again. I had imagined that people were just complaining and exaggerating. I didn’t think it could be that big of an issue, but I soon realized that the accounts I had read were correct. Yesterday wasn’t the first time I had experienced this sort of problem with parking and it won’t be the last. We had allotted ourselves plenty of time to get to campus and even have extra time, but we were still left scrambling.
The parking situation at USC is terrible and needs improvement. I recognize that having enough space is hard because the school is a city campus, but something needs to be done. There is not enough on campus housing for every student, so most students decide to live off campus. With the majority of students needing to park on campus, the necessity for parking is great. Many rely on driving to make it to their classes. With so much construction blocking roads and parking, the problem is only increased.
The situation I was in yesterday shouldn’t happen. The student population is large, and there should be ample parking for everyone. It is a terrible feeling to be searching for parking, knowing that arriving to class on time could depend on something as simple as whether a parking spot opens up or not. I hope that in the future, arrangements can be made to add to the amount of parking available on campus. Until then, students will have to participate in a pseudo Hunger Games each morning, fighting for each and every available parking space.
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