I have mastered on-campus parking.

I received my very first parking ticket ever the second semester of my freshman year of college, just a few weeks after I brought my car to school. I parked in a yellow zone too close to a fire hydrant, but I didn't even realize I was in a yellow zone or that I wasn't even supposed to park in it. So I learned not to do that pretty fast, but the parking situation only went downhill from there.

I only found out last year that if you park at a metered spot on the street on campus, it's actually considered part of the city and follows city rules. So parking is not free on Saturdays and it's not free until after 6 p.m. (unlike almost everywhere else, where it's free after 5). It took me several tickets to learn that one.



I found myself a parking spot that wasn't actually a parking spot. It was right outside of our student center so it was really convenient. It was a space that was right in front of an actual metered spot, but close to a fire hydrant, but there was usually just enough space after the car and before the yellow zone that I could squeeze into. I managed to park there almost all year without getting a ticket until the very end when I got two (one for parking in a yellow zone and one for parking in not a real spot), but I was able to appeal one (the yellow zone one). They caught on to my brilliant plan though. Brand new this year, they extended the yellow zone all the way to right in front of the actual metered spot, so I can no longer park there.

I have accumulated SO many tickets over the three full semesters I have had my car at school with me, and the moment I knew I had mastered on-campus parking was when I had been at school for six weeks without receiving a single parking ticket.

I also got a parking permit for Virginia Avenue Garage, the best, most convenient and most desired garage on campus. The day I got the pass was the best day of my life!