Alright, alright, let me be clear. Yes, I am a senior. Yes, I drive my sister to school, which is a carpool. Yes, I have a parking pass.

When Lakeside announced the new parking changes, I remember reading the email and muttering, “it’s about time.” I support the parking changes because I support carpooling and I support senior privileges.

I’ve been an advocate for carpool privileges ever since I learned the name of “Stimson.” Besides the obvious fact that personal transportation accounts for about a sixth of U.S. carbon emissions, I have a deeply ingrained obsession with efficiency. In my mind, if there exists a way to transport more people with minimal effort and minimal fuel, I would take it. This is why I love carpooling with others and now, as a senior, love driving others. 

Not to mention, fantastic conversations are to be had in carpools. Some of my fondest memories are being driven by former crew senior Kira Morton from morning practice. I looked up to (and admittedly was terrified) of her when I was on the team as a lowly freshman, but over my sophomore fall season, we grew closer through our morning chats about classes, rowing, and pumpkin spice lattes. 

In practice, carpool privileges encourage those two benefits: reducing emissions and building connections. For example, after the changes, I was happy to see many of my friends doubling up with one another in order to snag a spot.

I will say — I wish there was a better way to encourage more branching out. Lakeside Transportation and Veracross do offer a way for families to connect to carpools based on location. But I understand it’s difficult to coordinate carpools. I was hoping to drive some students who lived near me, but given that for half the week I have to wake up at 5:20 a.m. for rowing practice, it’s not exactly feasible. My advice to upperclassmen looking for a pass would be to find underclassmen or a student in another grade in the same sport or after-school activity.

Another reason why I support the parking changes is senior privilege. I know I’m about to enrage a lot of juniors and a handful of sophomores, but there are a couple of things you get to earn as a senior and even an upperclassman, like the senior lot. Nobody complains that the senior lot is for seniors only (I will say when I saw I got a Stimson pass and not a senior pass I silently swore under my breath). This is also why I think the complaining issue will go away in a few years when the past classes begin to learn and respect the system. 

Opponents of the change point out one main issue: convenience. I’ll state my final triggering reply. Too bad. 

Parking is a privilege, not a right. In many other schools, parking lots are half the size for quadruple the student body. I wrote an article two years ago detailing parking in other Seattle schools, and it’s drastically different. Lakesiders get the luxury of three large parking lots and close residential parking, whereas other students from schools like Lincoln have to deal with parking at Walgreens and a parking enforcement officer. 

We need to be more grateful for what we have and complain less about what we lose. We are a school with many freedoms and many luxuries. For example, we can dress basically however we want, we are allowed to take food all over campus, and we’re given a multitude of opportunities to improve a grade. Sometimes, we mistreat these luxuries, like when we leave half-full cups and dirty utensils all over campus. 

I can’t call myself a lover of rules, but we as a student body need to stop exploding in rage at every change and instead consider the greater good. I am a supporter of the phone ban — it’s strict enough as to greatly increase in-person conversations, but lenient enough that if you really need to contact a parent, you can head to the toilet.

All in all, I understand the impact the parking changes have on non-seniors, and I understand I’m someone who isn’t inconvenienced by the parking changes. If I was a junior, I’d be quite mad. The change isn’t perfect — in fact, my highly efficient heart skips a beat when Stimson is half-full at 1 p.m. while Sunnyside feels like a Capitol Hill residential street. 

Nevertheless, all things considered, fostering carpools is great. And for all the disappointed sophomores and juniors who saw their chance at snagging a Stimson spot vanish in the blink of an eye, perhaps your spirit, too, will change when you become a senior.