Virginia Joyce is a freshman at Wake Forest University from Boston, Massachusetts. However, she just recently moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. Virginia is thinking about majoring in Politics and International Affairs with a potential minor in Communications. She’s going to discuss her experiences with having a car on campus as a freshman, which is not extremely common at Wake Forest.
Her Campus: How did you choose to go to Wake, and did you expect to be able to have your car on campus as a freshman?
Virginia Joyce: I was looking for a medium-sized school with a big sports presence on campus, but also something in the south and warmer than Boston. So, I did a bunch of college tours, some in the south and some in the northeast. Wake was actually the last school I looked at, but I ended up really liking it when I visited, so I applied Early Decision! I actually didn’t expect to have my car on campus, because many of the schools I looked at were either in a city where there wasn’t parking, or some southern schools had limited parking so freshmen were not allowed to have a car on campus.
HC: Do you like having a car on campus and how often do you use it?
VJ: I do really like having my car on campus! I love having it on the weekends especially with Covid-19, to be able to go to dinner without having to Uber. I also like to be able to go to Target or get coffee from Dunkin’ whenever I want to. I use it most days of the week for those reasons, or if a friend wants to do something or needs anything, it’s nice to have for that. I also like it because now that my parents moved to Raleigh during the pandemic, I can drive home to see them if I want or need to, and it’s not very far.
HC: What is the process of having to park in specific lots on the weekdays versus weekends?
VJ: So, on the weekends, we are allowed to have our cars in specific lots on campus that are closer to our dorms. For example, I live in Babcock and I’m able to park it in the lot right outside of my dorm on the weekends. However, on the weekdays I have to park it just off campus in the Winston First Assembly Church parking lot. It’s not too bad though, it’s only about a 10-minute walk from my dorm.
HC: Would you recommend to future incoming freshmen that they bring their car on campus if they are able to?
VJ: Yes! Definitely, if you’re able to, I would say you’ll get a lot of use for it. Again, it’s nice to not have to Uber if you want to go downtown or to the grocery store or whatever. It’s a really easy process and even when you do have to park off-campus during the week it’s only a 10 minute walk away, so it’s basically like it’s still here. Obviously, I didn’t only choose Wake because I could have my car here, but it was definitely just an added bonus!
Editor’s Note: Wake Forest used to require freshmen to park by the football stadium during the week, so the new lot for freshmen is a great upgrade!