JMU Parking can be such a drag. You'd think paying close to $300 a year would secure you a spot… WRONG. Unless you are luckier than a leprechaun, you better plan to leave your apartment at least 45 minutes before class starts and be ready to drive around for a while, or plan on riding the bus.

It might even get so bad that it comes to the point where you must stalk someone. Fortunately, this is probably one of the few situations where stalking is considered socially acceptable, as you are just following them to get their parking spot. Stalking someone who's walking to their car in the lot, can ultimately secure you a spot, but might freak people out along the way. But desperate times call for desperate measure right?

Another unspoken JMU parking hack is the blinker. The blinker is the universal sign for F-off, this spots mine. If you see a blinker and someone pulling out of a spot, it would be best to move on and keep looking; stealing spots can result in some aggression on both parts. Don't mess with a sleep-deprived college student, it's not worth it.

Tickets, tickets are just icing on the cake of a bad day. We all love that little yellow envelope smirking at us from the windshield of your car letting us know that you owe some money. Luckily these tickets are easy to pay since you pay online and they accept flex, but they're never something someone wants to receive.

There are also some things to look out for on your way to the lots. Harrisonburg traffic, in general, is the worst, it seems like at any kind of day the roads are going to be packed with drivers running red lights, and breaking suddenly. Beware of bad drivers, with all the weird weather Harrisonburg gets, the worse the drivers become. Just make sure to drive slow and keep your wits about you because the last thing those roads needs is a traffic jam caused by yours truly. And the final thing I would say is a major obstacle in the journey to parking is the train, that thing never fails to cut you off when you are running late or in a bad mood. The loud whistle screeches and just angers you even further.

JMU Parking offers students several options for parking passes:

• Full-time Annual Permit- $284
• Part-time Semester Permit-$71
• Evening Semester Permit- $71
• Remote Semester Permit-$48

JMU offers several parking decks to students such as Mason, Grace Street, Warsaw, Champions, lower convo, and then the beloved gravel lots.

When Hotel Madison started construction, Harrisonburg was overwhelmed with excitement, as for the students, not so much. Although it is a beautiful building, they took away one of our most convenient and largest parking decks.

Overall JMU parking is not going to change, so you can either take the bus or deal with all that comes along with it.