Let’s address it: Parking anxiety.

An abundance of Chapman students have succumbed to this particular plague of anxiety. 

Am I going to hold up the line? Am I going to hit another car? Am I going to embarrass myself?

These are anxiety-based questions many have asked themselves when thinking about school parking.

Some have come up with solutions to drown these thoughts.

“I leave the house early and get to school early because I feel like past 7:30 a.m. the parking lot can get stressful, and I don’t want people to honk at me,” junior Elizabeth Lawson said.

The fear and anxiety of people honking at Lawson caused her to devise a solution to arriving at school earlier.

“High-density parking makes me anxious. It’s stressful because people make fun of my parking,” junior Madison Manning said.

Many students feel this same pressure to park adequately for fear of public embarrassment. 

Yes, parking correctly is necessary by law. However, the societal pressures around it could, in turn, make it more challenging to perform the task sufficiently. 

The simple task of parking your car at school has turned into an anxiety-festered activity, much like other things in this world. 

Parking, ordering food, making an appointment, talking to the opposite gender and even using the bathroom has turned a mundane activity into something to be anxious about.

Anxiety prohibits many from putting themselves out into the world, living without living.

I say this to whoever has been influenced by societal pressure and has become too anxious due to fear of others’ opinions: Who cares?

Although easier said than done, people are more often than not too worried about themselves to pay any mind to anyone else. 

If someone does care that much about you living your life, feel pity on them that they have nothing better to do with their time.

You do you.

Park that car at school.