Let’s face it, more of us are finding ourselves on campus this semester due to the scheduling of classes.
A year ago, in Fall 2010, the classes were more plentiful and if one class didn’t fit your work or home schedule, it was easy enough to find the same class in a different time slot that you could work with.
As a result, during Fall 2010 parking lots were full, but only during certain times of the day. As an example, last fall, I had difficulty (obviously) finding any morning parking in front of the L building (not out by Raisinville Road; I mean close to the doors of the L or La-Z-Boy Center), nor anywhere in the number 6 or number 7 lots.
This problem was swiftly resolved in the afternoon, as the best lot for my classes (lot 7) offered a choice of spots in the early afternoon.
Fast forward to Fall 2011. We all know that enrollment is down by 5 percent, per an article written for the August issue of The Agora by fellow staffer Taylor Pinson; but what gives with the parking now?
Most people avoid shopping on Black Friday every year because parking and logistics is a nightmare! For some of us, myself included, on a good day when there are no holidays, if we spend any amount of time in a store, we wander out with our purchases and the first sentence is always, “now where did I park my car?”
Black Friday each year magnifies this problem; add to that the crowds and it’s further compounded by the fact that it’s still dark outside.
Parking on campus is like Black Friday everyday now!
The time doesn’t matter, it’s still two incoming cars waiting for one car to leave, even at 6 in the evening. It’s frustrating.
This semester found many of us upset because the class selection was so limited. For those students holding down full-time jobs and trying to get their degree, they found that the classes they needed fell right in the middle of their work day, which meant that they had to choose classes that didn’t necessarily pertain to their degree program, or were forced to choose a different degree program altogether.
The other day, while walking to the A building to grab a bite to eat, another student walking out of the building stopped me and said, “If you are going to go get something to eat, you might want to wait awhile, there is no place to sit in the cafeteria.”
I didn’t think that was possible until I went to look for myself, and sure enough, there was not one single chair to sit on in the cafeteria!
So for every car that is parked in the parking lots, all those students seem to be taking lunch at the same time. Did I mention how frustrating that is?
In the year that I have gone to MCCC, I have NEVER seen the lot for the La-Z-Boy Center and the lot for the H building filled to the point where cars were parked to the road — until this semester.
Are we sure that enrollment is down 5 percent? It doesn’t look that way. I am now on campus more often than I am home: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturdays..
I am going to be so tired of Black Friday parking and Black Friday lunches, that by the time Black Friday rolls around, I won’t want to go anywhere, because sometimes crowds are just too much.
