Lack of parking makes timely attendance difficult
I’m writing this article in the hopes that the designers of parking at USC realize that a “get there early and hope for the best” mentality doesn’t work.
I’m also writing this article at home, sadly, during a period when I should be in class. Apparently getting to the building twenty minutes early doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll make it to the first half of your class.
This is an abomination. After circling my building for more than thirty-five minutes, I decided that writing an article was much better than being scolded again by a teacher over a problem that is no student’s fault.
Some days, there is literally no parking.
None.
And I have to, like today, drive home defeated, in distress and punching my steering wheel, wondering why I’m paying so many thousands of dollars for classes I can’t even attend.
At the music school, we have seen a lovely decrease in parking over the last four years. First, the fence and bushes on Assembly took our street spaces. Then the new business building took another parking lot. Lastly, we have just lost the lot across from the Greek Village.
But wait, there’s more!
They also decided that our spaces in the across-the-street Discovery parking garage should be occupied (not by cars) but only by signs that read: “Faculty Spot, 24/7 towing." And the rest of the spaces should raise in price by nearly 40 percent.
I had a garage pass. But then I realized that I shouldn’t be paying an extra semester of tuition to the university. After four years, getting the only reliable source of parking at the music school (a Discovery Garage pass) now costs a student a ridiculous $3,040.
With $3,000, I could literally buy a sailboat on Lake Murray, pay eight month’s rent or even buy 10 bottles of Dom Perignon, if I so desired.
I also have a bicycle. Luckily, I’m close enough that a bike ride takes about the same time I’d spend circling the music building anyway: 40 minutes. But I recently injured my leg, so I decided that I could risk meters for a few days or weeks.
I was obviously wrong. Unless I get to the building more than an hour early, I risk not being on time for class.
Also, on the extremely rare occasion that I do find someone pulling out of their spot as I pull up, the university has now wasted an hour of my time that I could have spent at home resting my poor injured self or productively doing something other than surfing Facebook in the music building lobby.
University of South Carolina: if you do not think that the parking situation is as dire as it is, then maybe it’s time to look at students like myself who cannot physically make it to class on time. Parking should not be a part of any student’s academic stress load.