Oh, NMU parking. I remember my first two years at Northern without a car. I used to walk to class every day, even when winter temperatures fell into the negatives. On one particular journey to school, there was a massive thunderstorm that completely soaked through my jacket. By the time I got to campus I had to go into the bathroom to wring the water out of my clothes. I could not wait to get a car.

The summer I bought my mom’s old Jeep Compass off of her, I gained a greater sense of freedom than ever before. I no longer had to bum rides off of people. I could take a quick trip across town for groceries, or I could drive around the winding back roads of Marquette County for a relaxing Sunday drive.

I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. The first hurdle I reached was the stiff $150 parking pass for the entire school year. As someone who had opening shifts on campus for quite some time, walking to school at 6 a.m. was not something I wanted to do, so I coughed up the money.

After buying the pass, I got to experience the joy of trying to find a parking spot on campus. In other words, it became a regular part of my schedule to pray that there was at least one open space in the commuter lot so I could make it to class on time.

Some days, I would even arrive on campus 30 minutes early only to wind up 10 minutes late, simply because I spent the extra time circling around each commuter lot and hunting down that lone empty space.

To add insult to injury, last year two commuter lots were removed to create more space for residents. This made even less spots available for commuters, a number which was already low to begin with.

That being said, every resident I have spoken to has the exact same problem. I cannot imagine trying to get back to my dorm and having to walk a mile across campus because that is where the last free spots are. 

These are all reasons why I have refused to buy a parking pass for the past year. I cannot allow myself to spend my hard-earned cash on something that will prove to be, at worst, almost completely useless, and at best, a vastly uneven compromise. 

Every day, I leave my house a half hour early and park a block away from campus. Before it got cold, I would bike. The walk used to feel tedious, but now it puts a smile on my face knowing that Northern’s ill-planned parking infrastructure will not receive a single dollar from me.

I do not see Northern’s parking getting better anytime soon. But seeing that I am now in my last semester at NMU, I do not care as much. However, I still hold out hope that Northern will rework their parking lot to better accommodate everyone, but I guess we will just have to wait.