For three years, I lived on the Mount Carmel campus and all I had to do to get to class was roll out of bed, grab my backpack and walk a few minutes. Now, as a senior, commuting is more of a hassle than I ever could have imagined.

I now have to plan to leave my house well before class starts and pray that there is a spot in North Lot. Much to my chagrin, there are rarely spots in North Lot and my car and I are banished out to the dreaded Hogan Lot.

I have no problem with parking out there if that’s all that is available, but my problem with it is that it closes at 7 p.m.

Once this year I’ve had to leave my car, Sara the Solara, in Hogan after she’s been locked in there and hitch a ride home with my roommate. I understand if there’s a staffing issue, that the school is going through a budget crunch, but to have the lot close at 7 p.m. makes no sense.

Let’s say I get to school for a dreaded “three-hour” class at 3 p.m. I have class from 3:30 until 6:15 p.m. Oh no, North Lot is full and I have to park in Hogan Lot. Not the worst thing in the world, except.I also have a “three-hour” 6:30 p.m. class that same day.

First class ends at 6:15 p.m. and second class starts at 6:30 p.m. Am I supposed to run out to Hogan lot in those 15 minutes, jump in my car, fly down Hogan Road (with a terribly placed stop sign, to boot) and then speed around North Lot hoping for a parking space? That sounds safe.

(Aside: Is that stop sign on Hogan Road really necessary? There’s a crosswalk there already. Isn’t the stop sign a little much? Maybe a speed bump or two would get the job done. I just think that the stop sign is a little extreme for the occasional person to cross the road. I understand a lot of people speed down Hogan (not me!), but that big red octagon is a bit out of place. They act like the driver or the people crossing the road will just close their eyes and pray that nothing is coming their way. We’re not that stupid. Right?)

It’s something that isn’t impossible to do, just a complete and total hassle. I’ve had to do it once before and it’s not fun.

Heck, is a security guard even needed if that’s causing the 7 p.m. closing time? He or she never checks my parking pass anyway. Send an occasional security car down there to make sure people aren’t crashing into each other, running over people and/or stealing radios out of every car in the lot. No one is willingly going to park in Hogan if they don’t have to.

I know that’s probably out of the question, but closing the lot right in the middle of classes seemed like something that would be.

Guess I was wrong about that.