It is the beginning of the semester, people are adding classes, people are dropping, and as always parking is atrocious.

“It’s like going to a swap meet in the parking lots,” Jonathan Bonilla, 20, sociology major said. “There’s a bunch of people running (driving) around trying to find the best deal (parking spot).”

Students find themselves spending more time looking for parking than they do sitting in class the first week of the semester.

“Yesterday, it seriously took me 17 minutes to find parking,” Brenda Estrada, 18, sociology major, said. “It was definitely the hardest I’ve ever worked to find parking and I seriously drove through every single possible parking lot. For a while, I thought that lack of parking was going to make me late, but I wasn’t so I’m happy about that.”

If you’re looking to have an easier time finding parking and not spending your entire day in the parking lot, follow these tips: buy a semester parking pass, get to school before the 9 and 10 a.m. class rush and park in Lot L.

“Parking in the old structure (Lot L) is the best place to park,” Kristine Wilson, 21, undeclared major, said. “It’s the best spot to park because everyone wants to park in the new structure, so I usually always find parking fast.”

If you buy a parking pass for the entire semester, you will not only save yourself time by not having to get out of your car to get a daily pass, but the pass will pay for itself by the end of the semester.

“Buying a parking pass was the best investment I made,” Tamara Yeghiayan, 19, liberal studies major, said. “It’s really convenient and it helps not having to stress about being close to class time and still having to buy a daily permit.”

If you can’t handle the daily fight looking for parking, don’t worry, the first week of the semester is always the busiest and the chaos dies down after a couple of weeks.

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