Sophomore year is an exciting and thrilling time for many students at Hudson High School. It is the year where most students turn 16, meaning they are inching their way towards the freedom of getting their driver’s license. Obtaining a driver’s license is definitely one of the top priorities of a high school student, it is one of the most exciting accomplishments shared universally within students’ high school careers. It is a time when teenagers go through a right of passage being granted with a new level of responsibility. The process of getting your license isn’t easy, from taking your permit test, to completing 24 hours of drivers education, driving at least 50 hours with a parent, or other licensed adult. Then, they must spend eight hours in a car with a stranger who is evaluating you along the way, learning maneuverability and then finally taking their test. It is a tedious process that takes immense amounts of dedication and patience. Despite this, a majority of students at HHS work tirelessly to earn their freedom on the road.
Unfortunately for students at Hudson High School the road of hardship doesn’t end there. The road in fact, has gotten even longer, all beginning with the Sophomore lot. The sophomore lot is an experience talked down upon by all Hudson highschool students alike. Even those who had experienced it seven plus years ago still remember the treacherous voyage they had to take in order to get to school.
To be more specific, the sophomore lot is the parking lot that gains new drivers nearly every month, it is the only parking lot that sophomores are permitted to park in. The reason why many students strongly dislike the parking lot is due to how far away it is from HHS. In order for a student to get from their car to the building they must walk about the length of 1 ½ football fields, which is nothing short of ridiculous. If a student is coming in late due to a doctor’s visit, appointment or for any other reason, that student must walk from the sophomore lot, to the school, then all the way around the school in order to get to the attendance office. Same thing for if a student is leaving early, say they had gotten sick at school, went to the nurse, and are now being sent home, that student will have to leave through the attendance office, walk around the junior lot, then the senior lot, then the back of the building past the tennis courts, then walk another 180 yards in order to get to their car. The worst part is, if you are coming in late, and you do decide to park in the way back of the junior lot to avoid the absurdly long walk, where there are dozens of vacant spots a anyway, then you will come out of school just to see that an administer has written on your driver’s side window in bright neon green marker “park in the sophomore lot,” or “pass?” This does not only fill students with immense frustration but it creates a distraction in their vehicles as well.
In August and September the walk isn’t too bad, but the reality is that most students won’t be getting their license at the beginning of the year, the time that we see the increase of cars in the parking lot is throughout the winter and early spring. The cold weather, snow, ice and freezing rain mixed with the narrow, uneven paved sidewalk from the sophomore lot to the school building creates an agonizing expedition students are forced to take in order to reach their education. In 2023, a student wiped out on the unsalted icy sidewalk when it was barely 20 degrees outside leaving that student in tears. Making a student walk so far to get to school is not only unethical, but it is beyond dangerous as well. Ice falls from the stadium bleachers, the wind bites at students’ faces, shoes and socks get sopping wet from puddles of melted snow, leaving students cold, wet and uncomfortable for the remainder of the school day. Ultimately, motivation for even coming to school dwindles tremendously.
Sophomores must wake up before anybody else in the school building, considering that it takes up to 10 minutes from when you park, to when you enter the building. Compared to juniors, seniors and teachers, whose walk takes them about 2-3 minutes. On top of that, after the bell rings and after sophomores had made the disturbingly far walk back to their cars there is little to no adult or teacher supervision in the sophomore lot. Creating an even more dangerous environment especially considering the lot is filled with brand new drivers. But let’s face it, there is not a single administrator who would willingly want to walk such a far distance to supervise the parking lot, yet neither do our sophomores, so why are we still putting students in our community under such unfair circumstances?
That is why it is time for a change here at Hudson High School. Administrators should put themselves in the shoes of our sophomores and come up with a solution that is better fitting for the well being of the students of our future.
