Parking Permit

Hot Wheels, Parking Permits, and IUSB

Daisy Jaimes

Throughout our lives we find objects that make a visual representation of a certain item in particular. We learn to categorize things and allow them to create a visual in our mind that then represents that item forever. When it comes to thinking of what things represent IUSB I come up with a list of various things. Those things are present from day to day representing IUSB in many distinct ways.

When I think of colleges, IUSB in particular, the act of commuting immediately comes to mind. Seeing the parking lot full of cars everyday reminds me that commuting plays a major role for IUSB students and faculty. For those who may be unaware what it means to commute, it is the act of traveling a distance away from a person`s home on a regular basis. College students at IUSB are faced many times with the act of commuting considering it is a local University with one of the most affordable tuition rates in the area. This brings many students from places around South Bend.

When a person starts college, one of the first questions that come to mind is “how will I be getting to school?” For many students who live far from the college they will be attending, commuting becomes their best friend. I live about a half an hour away from IUSB so it made sense for me to live at home and commute to school instead of moving up to South Bend. Moving up to South Bend would mean that I would have to pay for rent of some kind, food and many other things that I would need from day to day. With this is mind, commuting means that in order to get to class on time I have to wake up earlier than those students who already live in South Bend. On top of that I have to spend way more money on gas since I have to drive a distance away.

Commuter students also have to face problems dealing with the weather. No matter how bad the weather may be in the winter, as long as class is not canceled you are required to attend. I have commuted to school many times when the weather has been so bad that it has taken me twice as long to get to class. From what I know there is a great percentage of students that commute to IUSB everyday.

In order to best represent the act of commuting students at IUSB I chose to display a parking permit and some toy cars to help us better understand the concept. The parking permit is necessary in order to park on campus without receiving a fine. I made a copy of an old parking permit so I didn’t have to display the real one. The real copy was made with plastic by the faculty working at IUSB. Students commuting to IUSB definitely need to display a parking permit on their car at all times. I also chose three different models of cars to display, in order to best represent the diversity of people on our campus. These toy cars were bought at Wal-Mart on November 15, 2014. They are made out of metal and plastic. At IUSB there are people of all different ages and of all different social classes. There are students with average looking cars and students with very good cars. Commuting, for me, is one of the best ways to represent IUSB. I feel that commuting is a perfect way to represent the history of IUSB because it has been going on for many years.