On a dark, chill night in Concord, my sister and I lugged our bags down Main Street to our car. It was another day of trekking a quarter-of-a-mile away from campus, throwing wistful glances at the derelict parking lot as its familiar entrance grew smaller and smaller with distance. The construction of West Campus loomed behind us, the architect behind our peril. I shivered in the bite of the cool wind. With every step, I could hear the thump of my sister’s bag as her firm grip on its rough handle grew increasingly laborious.
Then, tragedy: “[redacted],” said she, “I forgot my soccer bag.”
“Me, too.” The night seemed to groan with our anguish. We reasoned that we would plod ourselves to the car, then drive to collect our forgotten possessions from the MSL. Then, tragedy, again: the keys, too, lay limp, abandoned, sprawled on the empty surfaces of our second home, Concord Academy campus. My harried form sagged under the weight of both our bags as she retreated into the night in the direction from which we had come.
Since school started in September, my sister and I have been leaving the house twenty minutes earlier than last year: 7:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and 8:20 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These departure times are not unreasonable, nor close to the earliest among day students. In fact, we would likely benefit from leaving earlier; by the time we roll onto Main St, we’re forced onto Academy, before settling halfway down Middle St. On sad days, we surrender to a spot so far down Main St. that not even the most spry Concord citizen would dare use. Afterwards, we climb out of the car and hike to school.
These minor inconveniences are exacerbated by the fact that I am not particularly inspired by West Campus to begin with. I do not consider myself a passionate member of CA’s art community, visual or performing. I also do not swoon with admiration at the prospect of yet another hallway of private, soundproof practice rooms.
I don’t write this to be unrealistically demanding. West Campus can’t simply be deconstructed, and I’m sure at least some people are looking forward to the finished product. Even considering the beliefs of that particular nonconformist branch of the CA community, the current situation for day students kind of sucks. I haven’t yet been compelled by flashy slideshows and newsletters to really believe that West Campus is at all worth the current pitfalls and parking tickets. All I can really bring myself to think in the mornings when I wake up with less sleep, or in the nights when I traipse glumly to the car, is that seriously, something needs to be done about the parking.