Senior Parking Lot: Tradition in Color
Students on campus would love to explore the idea of painting parking spots and want to explain why this would help students express themselves.
By Kareem Gray and Arabella Jackson
While Paxon urges students to show off their creative side, seniors aren’t given the chance to leave their mark by decorating their very own parking spot.
For the last 10 or so years, decorating parking spots has been a popular trend within the U.S. in places such as Texas and even neighboring St. Johns County. The parking spots allow seniors to leave a creative mark on campus and express themselves. Senior students on campus wonder why they should be excluded.
“I feel like decorating a parking spot will allow me to express my emotions and spark creativity,” senior student Trenity Gundy-Parks said. Parks said a decorated spot will show how he feels during the process of decoration.
Senior Sam Smith said that the opportunity to paint a parking spot would give him an outlet to express himself and show his creative thinking.
Some teachers even believe that a custom spot would help the students as well.
“I think any opportunity for students to express themselves and be creative is very important,” reading instructor Sheri Porubski said. “Taking ownership of a spot gives them a sense of self and responsibility.”
For many seniors, this project is more than painting on the pavement; it’s giving students a chance to show who they really are and a chance to make new and exciting memories. Senior parking spots may seem like a boring tradition, but they provide students with joy and a kick-start to their hardest year yet.
“Painting parking spots gives students a sense of pride and a unique space to express themselves in their own way,” senior Helen Johnson said.
There’s a fear that what students paint could potentially be offensive to others.
“I think we shouldn’t be able to do this cause students could put offensive things on their parking spots, and this could potentially trigger other kids,” senior Chase Solomon said.
This can be avoided by seniors sending in a picture of what they want to paint and getting pre-approval by administration before they can start painting.
“This is very important because it’s the seniors’ last year, and being able to create and express themselves is vital in finding themselves,” upcoming senior Jordan Moxon said, “allowing them to be creative and make something cool they can leave behind.”
Some students believe that a parking lot could create a sense of pride within themselves as well.
“I would decorate my parking spot in a way that shows who I am,” senior Layla Parks said. “It would stand out when I first enter the senior lot, and I’d get excited knowing that the spot belongs to me.”
Students know what goal they have in mind to restore parking lots but are unsure where they could find the support to receive funding and help with such a big project like this.
“I think we should contact the City of Jacksonville to assist in repaving the student parking lots, as they could be the most accessible,” senior Robin Snowden said.