By Larry Ma, staff/writer
Coming back from distance learning to in-person school this year, every student has to face this harsh reality – we all have to get to school one way or another. Whether we walk, take the Muni, drive, or ride a bike, we can all agree that transporting from and to school sucks.
For those who have parents like me, who don’t let them get a permit to drive a car because they are overprotective (which is something I hate about them), we have to take the bus or walk. These are really my two options because there isn’t really space to fit a bike in my apartment and my dad is too concerned about the gas price to drive me.
In the morning, I have to wake up really early, at around 6:30am, since I need time to tend to my personal needs. I’m also really grouchy at this time since I usually had things to do the previous day giving me little time to actually sleep. Because of this, I don’t usually walk that fast so most of the time I miss the bus, making me late for school.
Riding the Muni for me is supposed to take around 20 minutes, but I usually don’t actually get to school in 20 minutes with all the traffic and the time it takes for the bus to get to my stop. It doesn’t end there. Sometimes, I can’t even board the bus because of how many people are in them. When I eventually get into a bus, I have to endure the crowding of the bus, the bus telling people to stand away from the door, and the hazard of standing while the bus stops moving. There are also those kinds of people who would stand next to an empty seat and not sit or let anyone else sit.
I also sometimes walk to school which takes around 30 minutes. Ironically, I’m usually never late to school walking there compared to riding the bus. But walking to school also isn’t preferable since I usually don’t have energy in the morning, and the weight of my backpack dragging me down, not to mention having to walk up mostly hills. I always question my sanity when I decide to walk to school.
The experience of transporting to and from school has made my memories of online school much more favorable. During online class, it’s just a matter of opening your laptop and logging on to zoom. With that new Omicron variant bound to start flowing around in California and the continuing cluster in the Muni, I can’t help but feel like there will be another shutdown soon which is something I fully support as I don’t have to go through the hassle of waking up early to travel to school.
