A letter to the juniors who think it is permissible to park on Gainsborough Road and Victory Lane:

Fewer than 100 seniors were provided with parking spots in the senior lot for the 2015-16 school year. However, those left spot-less instantly became Darwinists: experiencing survival of the fittest every day while competing with juniors for a parking spot.

Following new regulations on the parking policy, juniors are now permitted to park on Gainsborough Road and Victory Lane, an upgrade from last year’s Tuckerman Lane only policy. The senior class contains 538 students, 80 more students than last year’s senior class, and has waited for parking privileges for four years. On top of that, the juniors aren’t old enough, or experienced enough, for the driving benefits that come with these coveted parking spots.

Seniors understand that they have their own designated senior parking lot, but it’s pretty difficult to fit 538 students in the 95-spot lot. Parking on Gainsborough and Victory should be reserved for the other seniors who drive to school but weren’t lucky enough to get a spot at the lottery—they deserve to be able to park just as much as the select 95, and certainly more than juniors.

According to Security Team Leader Terry Bell, 150 street permits are available for parking on Gainsborough, Victory and Tuckerman. The seniors could purchase a street pass in September while the juniors could only get them in October. Regardless, whether you got your pass in October or September, there should still be a clear delineation between where seniors and juniors can park. Bell predicts that there will be no more available street permits by the end of the semester.

And seriously juniors, you’re just not old enough to rule the streets of CHS yet. We’re at the top.

We’ve taken our SATs. We’ve taken our APs. Though these have nothing to do with driving, it means we’ve put in the blood, sweat and tears needed to deserve a senior year during which we have the right to park in the most convenient spots. Plus, we know how to parallel park because our driving test actually had that on it. The same can’t be said for a majority of the junior class.

On Nov. 4, we examined the cars on Gainsborough. Within our first few steps out of the Bulldog Lobby, we spotted a car parked backward on the street. Sure enough, according to Bell, this was a junior who received a parking ticket. Karma.

We did our time juniors; now you have to do yours. Just be patient and understand that parking on Tuckerman as a junior is a rite of passage. When you’re a senior, you’ll thank us as you casually pull into your nice convenient spot in front of CHS. If this policy holds up, you won’t be very happy when you have to wake up earlier than last year simply to fight for a spot on Gainsborough.

Your class is known as the “juniors” for a reason; you should show respect to your seniors. Let us park on Gainsborough. If you really need a ride and can’t find parking on Tuckerman, either take the bus, walk to school or hitch a ride with a senior. It’s not a big deal, and you’ll get over it.

Think about the upsides. You get great exercise in the morning walking from Tuckerman, and you get to walk with a cluster of juniors into school, whereas you’d feel awkward drawing glares from the senior whose spot you stole. You also don’t have to wake up nearly as early to park on Tuckerman.

We understand that you think parking should be on a first come, first serve basis without any age discrimination. We also get that you want to park as close to the school as possible. We understand, as we were juniors once too.

But you have to put yourself in our shoes and look into your future as seniors. Senior year is sometimes about being lazy. We shouldn’t have to wake up so early to get a parking spot just because our name wasn’t selected at the lottery.

According to an Observer poll of CHS seniors, 89 percent believe juniors should not be able to park on Gainsborough and Victory. Additionally, in a similar poll of juniors, 39 percent believe that juniors should not have the opportunity to park on these streets.

Clearly even the 39 percent of juniors realize that seniors should have priority in parking spots. And though it may be hard to monitor which juniors and seniors are parking in the right places, there could be different colored passes to distinguish between the juniors and the seniors.

Help the seniors make it to graduation by doing us a simple favor: take that permit of yours and cross off Victory and Gainsborough. There’s only one place junior permits are valid and it’s lining the hill toward Hoover.

Sincerely, your loving seniors.