Anyone who has gone to college knows the first-day nerves. You’ve said goodbye to home and high school and headed off into a world of your own. A world where you get to choose what you want to do, what classes your want to take, and what job you want to have. Adulting can be exhilarating and super stressful. 

Imagine you are back on that first day of classes, ready to begin the journey that will launch you into the career that you have been dreaming about. You are driving up to the parking lot outside the building with that first class of the first semester, and there are no parking spots. No problem, next lot. No parking spots. Sweat is starting to break out on your forehead, only 5 minutes until class starts. Next lot- no parking spots. You are about to go insane, you blast out of the lot and swing into the next one. And the next one. And the next one. 10 minutes late, 20 minutes…45…the class is basically over. You have searched every single lot around the campus. You’ve even checked the streets around the University- not a single parking spot. You aren’t the only one either, tons of cars whiz past you on the narrow road, all piloted by desperate students trying, and failing, to arrive on time for their classes. 

This story above may seem a bit absurd, or it may seem all too familiar. Whichever understanding you have may indicate whether you are currently attending the University of Montana. This story represents the experience of most students at UM this year. As students, we pay anywhere from $132-$264 dollars per semester or year for parking permits. But even though we have already paid for parking, many of us are still unable to park half of the time. The University knows about this problem. Instead of fixing it, they have told us to take the bus and they continue to take over parking lots for event parking– when there is already no room for students. 

The more important issue is that we are unable to get to class. If we cannot get to class then we cannot get the education that will further our careers and dreams. That job you always wanted? That fantasy you wound around in your head for hours a week in high school- dreaming of the day when you could break free and do what you want to do? Gone, out of reach, because of parking. No student who has worked so hard to get this far should be denied their education. 

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