By Justice Sandoval

Parking lots, a place that not only holds your car but unleashes your inner monster when it’s packed. Now where is the most difficult parking system you ask? Look no further than your very own RCC Riverside campus. 

Time after time students struggle with finding parking, not only does this bring frustration but it tends to make students late to their first class and sometimes cause students to park in a “no park zone” which leads to tickets or worse your car being towed away!

“I looked for parking for about 45 minutes and when I knew I was going to be late I parked at the apartment parking lot and soon got a call that my car was towed” Alejandra Lopez Explained how her day went from bad to worse “ I missed all my afternoon classes just to get my car out.” missing classes to retrieve your car from the repo center? Welcome to college/ adult life.

Not all students have trouble finding parking, there are people who prepare, park, and prosper.

Emerson Gutierrez flaunts his luck by telling how he gets his perfect parking spots “ I get early classes because not only do I love to be up early but there is so much parking when you’re here at 7 a.m.” There you have it Ladies and Gentlemen the trick to starting your day off right.

Does the parking system need to be improved here at RCC? Student Edgar Leyva says “ No, if you come here late of course you won’t find parking. I come early so I don’t really mind.” Maybe there is hope for students and it starts with being early. What about the people that can’t get to school early or really don’t want to?

“Too many people are late to class and I see it a lot in my morning classes” says Jasmine Martinez when asked if she would rather have a new admissions building or parking system.

There are parking systems all over that are terrible and as much as you want to pull your hair out you just have to keep looking. If you want a stress free day here are some tips. First, get to school about an hour early, you can get some breakfast at the cafeteria, finish any last minute homework, or just listen to music in a peaceful area. Second, you can carpool with a friend, not only does that make your ride fun but it saves you and your friend from going through a car lot break down alone. Lastly, you can take the bus for free with your RCC student ID, don’t you just love public transportation?

There are many ways to beating the evil parking system you just have to find which ever works for you. Good luck to all first year students and students that are almost out.