Open campus policy at my high school was a positive factor that made my senior year more enjoyable. Open campus meant that as a senior with good grades and insurance along with my driver license, I had the privilege to park on school grounds and was allowed to leave school grounds for lunch. I had worked at a hamburger stand and saved my money for my first car. I wanted to be able to drive my car to school and the open campus policy provided me with an incentive to maintain a job along with my school studies. I wanted to be able to take my girl friend to the school dances in my car. I had to work to be able to afford a car and a girlfriend.
This emotional lesson of work for what you want has been with me my whole life. If I have work for something, then I own it and I can take pride in my accomplishments. Open campus was beneficial to local food service business to cater to students for the lunch needs. A hot lunch along with the social hour was a nice break at mid day. It was also an opportunity to go home and get the forgotten books or home work assignment. The school cafeteria also benefited by not having such a demand on their facilities for lunch. This open campus policy allowed me as a senior to bring my car in to the auto body shop once a week and do any needed repairs.
I took great pride in showing off my car to fellow students. This policy set high goals for the under classmen to strive to achieve. The rules for this privilege were to maintain good grades, no tickets for speeding, no wrongful parking, and no excessive noise. It was very plain what was required for the privilege of having my car on campus. Along with the open campus policy the administration had to install and maintain a security system. The office of security consisted of chief of security, who had direct access to local law officers, and two guards.
The guards alternated shifts and used a golf cart to cover both parking lots on campus. They carried walkie talkies and a duty belt and wore proper uniforms with badges. Parking permits in the form of window stickers had to be printed and issued to the students. All of this was an additional expense for the school to implement open campus policy but was well worth it. The students gained psychological wellness knowing that our campus and cars were being watch over physically with security officers while we were studying in class.
This had a calming effect on me and created a better learning atmosphere for the class. Another benefit for me with the open campus policy was the girls. I was not a jock, or a straight “A” student, but I did go to the top of the girl’s desirable list for dates because I had a cool car. The guys with cars were known in our school as cruisers. We would cruise slowly around the school and down the main drag in town and let the girls check us out. This was a big boost in my social life and was still within rules and limits of the school administration.
I had one good buddy who would ride shotgun and talk to the girls on the right side of the car, while I talked to the girls on the left side of the car. I would give other students rides to school and some of the friendships that were formed then, I still have today. In conclusion, I have looked back on my experience in high school and have seen how my education was not only in the class room but also in the parking lot. I learned good work ethics, financial responsibly, accountability to others, social skills with the opposite sex, and got a high school education.
The lessons I learned in high school have helped form me into what I am today. I have to give thanks to wise teachers, principals, and administrators for trusting me and giving me a chance to prove that I could be responsible. Every student should learn to work for what you want, take pride in what you have, and be accountable and trustworthy to authorities in your life; the result of an open campus upon high school students is a sense of control over their environment and it is a positive impact in their lives.
