Every morning, my suitemates and I take turns driving to class. We choose to carpool together since we know we can park the carpool lot located across from North Lot on the Mount Carmel campus.

Soon after you pass the guard shack, you are greeted with a sign that says, “CARPOOL LOT ONLY, 2 OR MORE PASSENGERS.”

So you’d think it would be fine and that we should be able to park there.

But taking the right into the carpool lot, away from the overly crowded North Lot, is honestly almost worse than parking in Hogan Lot behind the Mountainview residence hall.

Most students, whether they are driving alone or with other people, are fighting to find the perfect spot closest to their classes.

This process is absolute chaos.

When the carpool lot is full, students will circle the carpool lot, hoping someone will be walking to their car so they can claim that parking spot as their own. But when there are 10 or more students trying to do the same thing, it turns into an ugly situation.

It becomes hard to drive around the lot because most students park in the middle of the road and wait for a parking spot to open up. Some students even park their cars in non-designated parking spots, which is frustrating because you have to put your car in reverse in order to enter another row.

When students see an open parking spot, they speed towards it and make risky maneuvers to get in the spot before someone else. This is extremely dangerous because you could get into an accident with another car, or worse, collide with someone who is walking to or from their car. I never thought finding a parking spot would ever make me nervous, give me anxiety or even make me late to class.

At the beginning of the semester, members of the Department of Public Safety would stand between the two parking lots in order to make sure only carpool cars were allowed into the carpool lot and the people driving alone would filter into the North Lot.

Lately, the Public Safety officers have not been standing there when they should be, and many students who drive alone are sneaking their way into the carpool lot, taking spots from the people who actually are carpooling with their suitemates or friends.

If Public Safety officers stood outside between the parking lots consistently during class times, then this would alleviate some of the consistent congestion in the carpool lot.  It will also enforce the rules of having two or more passengers in your car to park in that lot, making it easier for people who are actually carpooling to find a parking spot.

It is unfair for students who do not carpool to have priority in the carpool lot instead of those who follow the rules.

On Feb. 27, the Student Government Association (SGA) sent an email to the student body, asking for students who are dissatisfied with the parking situation at Quinnipiac to fill out a survey. SGA hopes to collect statistical data on how students feel about parking at Quinnipiac, which I think is a step in the right direction.

SGA is making an effort to help relieve parking problems such as the chaos that is the carpool lot, and I believe everyone who is as frustrated as I am should help, even if it means just taking one simple survey.

It is time to set a precedent that rules should be enforced, and there will be consequences if you don’t follow them.