When construction resumed at Bear River’s campus mid-August, lots of students were curious as to whether or not they would get an opportunity to still paint parking spots. Luckily the answer was yes. Although it would be different from years past, many Bruins took on the challenge.
Elaine Owyoung is a senior at Bear River, and this year painted the seagulls from Finding Nemo on her spot.
“I was on the edge of painting my spot because to be honest I didn’t have the time to paint,” Owyoung said “But then during my open first, someone kept parking in my spot and I wanted to incorporate a sense of intimidation to whoever it was. In the movie Finding Nemo the seagulls constantly repeat ‘Mine!’ to claim Dory and Merlin as their next meal, so I hoped it would relay the message to my parking spot thief.” Painting took a lot of time and energy since most days reached high temperatures.
“It was really hot when painting, I was for real melting for about three hours,” Owyoung said. “But it was definitely worth it, I really like it and that person backed off thank goodness.”
Owyoung felt all Bruins would enjoy the process of painting their own spot.
“Of course! Especially the seniors, it’s almost like a senior experience and it’s also rare to be able to paint the entire parking spot instead of just a small square, like it was years prior,” Owyoung said. “I think it can also be enjoyed by just your friend group making it even more special. I think since the school isn’t hosting the event as a group this year along with the whole parking lot construction mania thing going on, it demotivates a bunch of students. Plus, a lot of us just don’t have the time in our schedules to go paint a whole parking spot.”
For example, Bennett Fisher hasn’t quite gotten the time to paint yet.
“I personally think it’ll take a solid day of work to do properly so I know it’s going to be quite a bit of effort, and there’s no way I have the time for this,” Fischer said while waiting to board his flight to Hawaii for fall break. “The only time that would possibly exist for it would be if I missed doing something else.”
But even with restrictions, Fisher still has hope.
“Yeah it’s definitely something I would like to do,” Fischer said. “Honestly I bought my spot because I heard that my other senior friends enjoyed it and wanted to see what kind of art I could make.”
Regardless, the activity has brought joy to the community. Although it might be taking students a lot of time and effort to partake in this fun experience, it’s a tradition that some bruins might regret not partaking in during the future.
Parking spots are still available in Adina’s office for anyone who wants to join in.