In high school, earning your driver’s license means one thing: freedom. 

“I don’t have my license,” said Charlie Walters, a Sharon High junior. “I need people to pick me up off the side of the road sometimes.”

With a license, the days of begging for rides from parents or upperclassmen are gone. A car changes everything.

Unfortunately, all that goes down the drain if you don’t get a parking space in the junior or senior lots.

With only 90 spots in the Junior Lot and 110 in the Senior Lot, many students have to go without parking for the year if they can’t secure a spot online. Spaces tend to sell out quickly, with all junior spots sold within a few days of registration and all senior spots within hours. 

“You have to fight for your spot,” explains Sharon senior Maxwell Mevs. Once the portal is open, it’s a race to make an account, pay for a spot, and pick up a physical pass at the Community Center. 

This year, many families reported not knowing the correct date for the portal’s opening; some were on vacation and couldn’t log on, resulting in frantic calls to the Town Hall.

According to Sharon High Principal Keenan, administrators are working diligently to fix these issues. They plan to meet with the Recreational Department to make the lots more accessible.

For the students unable to secure a spot, a little creativity is required. Some are forced to park nearby and allocate time in the morning to walk to the school building, while others park in the lots without passes and receive tickets. As one student bluntly put it, “If you don’t get a spot, you’re screwed.” 

At the end of the day, traffic builds up around both lots, creating chaos around the school. Some students wait before heading out to their cars to avoid it, but many brave the long lines to get to practices and meetings.

With the abundance of new, inexperienced drivers, parking can be a struggle. The lots have seen more than one minor accident per year since the pandemic, and students have been known to take up multiple spots when parking.

In response to this phenomenon, Sharon students have created the @sharon-worst-parking Instagram account. It displays the crooked, outside-the-lines parking jobs done by SHS students in the mornings.

“I like to park far from the entrance, even when I’m early. That way, I know my car is secure,” says 11th grader Brenda Ribeiro Freitas. Like many others, she’s worried that her car could be jeopardized by other students trying to park nearby.

The lots may be difficult to navigate, but students admit that they enjoy the SHS traditions that take place there.

For example, seniors enjoy decorating their cars and parking spaces for the first day of school, using chalk to create drawings and notes. For them, the cars represent more than just a ride around town: they represent their hard work throughout their time at SHS. 

“I think the lots are kinda cool,” says a Sharon High freshman. “It gives something to look forward to as you become an upperclassman.”