Going Away to College
My only son left me this year. I know, I know—he didn’t really leave me. He went away to college, moving to the next phase of his life, just like he is supposed to. I have a habit of being a little melodramatic, it is true. That said, adjusting to him being away and living somewhere that is not with me has been a huge adjustment. That may be why I joined the parent Facebook page for his university—I thought it would help me to keep connected with what is going on in his world. And oh, boy, did it.
First, I learned that I am doing a much better job of letting go than so many of my cohorts, who are posting about every single little obstacle, challenge, and bump in the road that their precious little ones are experiencing with the drama and flair of professional novelists (or tabloid reporters). Second, I learned that there are three things that people love to complain about on college campuses—the food, the lack of hot water in the residence halls, and (drumroll please) the parking.
Wow, do they love to complain about the parking.
My son bringing his car to campus was a given. In fact, schools that did not allow freshman to have cars on campus were swiftly cut from his preference list. As a hockey player he needs his car to get back and forth to the rink for practices. As the son of me, well, he needed his car for my piece of mind; I wanted to know that he could go where he needed (who am I kidding, it was so that he could come home every weekend, which he does NOT) without having to beg for rides.
To get their parking permits they sign up online and pay by credit card. Then they get a parking sticker and assigned a spot close to their residence hall. Easy, right? Well, it goes downhill fast from there. Facebook stories of students not parking in their assigned spots, being assigned spot numbers that do not exist, assigned spots being too far for the students to walk at night, spots that had the numbers painted over…it goes on and on. How much is true and how much are parents posting to feel like they are still involved in their kid’s life in some way is the question, but either way, they must be making the parking team at the university crazy.
Managing the parking operations for these colleges and universities is not for the faint of heart. Putting this issue together gave me a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges faced by today’s higher education campuses, and they are many. We have some great information in this issue on how campuses are navigating all the change they have experienced, and how they are taking parking and mobility on campus to new levels using the latest technology.
Thank you for spending some time with us. Let me know what you think—but do me a favor. Send me an email, and don’t post it to Facebook!
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