PAINT AWAY

Ana Garcia, 12, was one of the many seniors that squeezed themselves into Brown’s room after school, and she was surprised by the method that was chosen to distribute the parking spots.

“I had really wanted to get a spot next to my friend, because we were planning on doing matching spots, but my friend and I ended up being really far away from each other,” Garcia said. “It took me switching spaces with people six times before I could get a spot I wanted."

Although the first day of painting was supposed to take place on Friday, August 27 after school, due to poor weather conditions, it had to be canceled and postponed to Saturday, August 28. Luckily, the weather on Saturday was pleasant and painting commenced immediately, lasting from 1:00 PM all the way to 7:00 PM.

One of those who attended that very first day of painting was Elizabeth Roberts, 12, whose spot required a great deal of time, effort, and paint.

“My design is of a quote from Alex Hirsch, the creator of Gravity Falls, with the background being the Mystery Shack surrounded in forest,” Roberts said. “Gravity Falls played a huge part in shaping my childhood, and really motivated me to pursue my desire of becoming an animator. I thought I’d pay homage to such an influential show.”

Colin Holm, 12, began painting his spot on that Saturday, which ended up being a really fulfilling experience for him.

“I decided to paint Mordecai, a character from Regular Show, with my girlfriend, Alexa Galli, 12, who I share the spot with and drive to school everyday,” Holm said. “My favorite part of painting was standing back and basking in what I had made every once in a while. It felt really motivating and relieving to see just how much progress I had made on the spot.”

Because painting had been cancelled on Friday, an additional two hours of painting was provided for Sunday, August 29, which lasted from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. This extra time gave many seniors the ability to finish their designs, as well as allowed more room for any extra detailing or touch-ups that needed to be made.

In order to properly express their passion for the animated show Naruto, Andrea Mueller, 12, and Garcia chose to make matching parking spots which showcased their favorite characters from the show.

“I painted Guy Sensei, and my friend Ana [Garcia] painted Rock Lee, the friend and student of Guy Sensei,” Mueller said. “We chose to paint them because they are the funniest characters from the show, plus we dressed up as them for Halloween one year, so we have really great memories associated with them.”

Nikhil Iyer, 12, was somehow able to create a modern-day masterpiece of art in just a couple of hours.

"I aimed to 'balance' everything in my parking spot," Iyer said. "It’s a yin yang on a black background with a fire dragon wrapped on the yin side and a water dragon on the yang side. The yang side also has a little bit of ocean and the yin a spout of flame. Instead of normal circles, the yang dot is a solar eclipse and the yin dot is a lunar eclipse."

After hours and hours of hard work, dedication, and creative expression, a large majority of the senior parking spots now sport new designs. Although there were some seniors that haven't been able to finish their spots, the parking lot still looks very colorful and full of personality. With the painting being the first major senior event of the year, the great turnout and the end result are sure to set a precedent for the rest of the Class of 2022's final year in high school.