“Las Fresas” parking lot or restaurant?

A small restaurant called Las Fresas located just beside school campus has been used by multiple TCS high school students as soon as the get their license as a form of parking lot. Since TCS rules prohibited students driving their cars and parking in school premises, students who do not wish or cant take the bus, and neither be driven by parents to school were forced to find a loophole  in such law and park their cars just beside school.

According to 11th grade student Julian Jaramillo, parking in Las Fresas consists on, “driving your car to school and leaving it in the small street just in from of the restaurant”, and then students are required to “find someone nice enough to let you get into your car to enter school premises” as stated by Jaramillo. Everyday multiple TCS students that are legally allowed to drive  have to do the same prices mentioned by Jaramillo to be able to get to school.

How do school directives feel about this?

School laws have not alway forbidden driving to school. Way back, when TCS was located in Robledo, and soon after moving to the campus in Las Palmas, the rulebook and directive members allowed the children who had acquired their license to drive to school, sadly this all changed when, “a TCS student crashed besides school and accidentally killed a young girl when driving to school” as stated by high school Vice principal, who also claimed that, “the school´s immediate reaction was to provide the permission of students driving to school.”

Human nature and behavior has proven that for society as a whole prohibition at times is an dare to breaking the law, and that is not an exception for TCS students. Vicky believes that “parking in las fresas is a way to trick the law”. Given that school directives found out about what students were wrongfully doing, taking advantage that directives only “can control the students from the inside until the gate” as stated by the vice principal, the school committee decided to take actions into their own hands. Vicky stated that, “the rule to forbid students from walking by foot out of the school, is to make it harder for students to drive their cars to school, although they still do it.”

It’s clear that this institution does not support what is being done by students but parking in las fresas, but they are aware its off their jurisdiction and immediate control.

How do TCS students feel about this?

TCS student community has a contrary position towards this current issue. Those young men and women who are allowed by law and the authorities to drive in the city including the dangerous Las Palmas highway feel that if the government allows them to drive, so should the school, as augmented by 12th grade senior Sofia Cardamone who stated and firmly believes that , “if we as minors are permitted by the government which is the strongest law, to drive then we should be able to do it at school, and we have been trained by professionals how to drive properly at the license course”.

Those who drive their cars to school claim that “the distance from campus to their home does not allow us to make use of public transportation to get to school, therefore we are forced to drive and park in Las Fresas” stated once again Cardamone.

A poll of 24 students stated that 4 of them drive their cars to school and park just outside, 8 are driven by their parents and chauffeurs to school, and a majority of 12 TCS students take the bus provided by the school transportation administration. Although most students get to school on bus, this shows there is a significant number of TCS students who drive to school, and they all park at Las Fresas.

Positives and Negatives

When students drive rather than taking the bus, a great amount of the time it takes them to get to campus is reduce, given that they do not have to go around the city picking up other. Once again Julian Jaramillo claimed that driving to school “allows me to sleep more time, given that I can leave my house much later that the hour the bus has designated to pick me up”. Not only does going to school take less, but also going back home. “ Taking my car allows me to drive much faster and get home earlier, to rather study or attend other things I have to do” stated Alejandro Gomez a TCS 11th grader.

Sadly for TCS students there are also some negative aspect about parking in Las Fresas. “When you park there, you got to take the risk of being your car robbed  or crashed, as it has happened to several persons whose side mirrors have been crashed”, claimed Cardamone who was directly witnessed this venet occur. Another negative aspect about this unofficial parking lot, has been that not all people support students doing such thing. “I once got yelled and threatened by a columbus school dad who didn’t like the fact that I parked my car in Las Fresas. He then went to Vicky and Arbabi to try to get me into trouble but he failed” states Gomez, who added how yet again one “police authorities notified the cars of those who parked in Las Fresas, to only park in the right side of the street or they would receive a ticket or have their car towed away”.

Although it is clear that there are worth considering negative aspects about parking in Las Fresas, TCS students still do it because they consider the risks worth taking given that the positive rewards a greater.