In the life of a teenager, getting your first car is a triumphant moment and a symbol of your drive for independence. No longer bound to walking, biking, or carpooling, the possibilities of where you can go are endless. At Berkley High, an overwhelming majority of our upperclassmen drive themselves, so naturally there is a variety of vehicles across our two student parking lots, ranging greatly in make and model. On any occasion, you could find two cars parked next to each other with a 20+ year model difference, like a brand new Chevy Blazer next to an old Toyota Corolla. Every car has a different story behind it. For example, some students buy their own cars and fix them themselves, while others have them gifted by their parents.
Wanting to know how students personalize their cars and make them their own, I interviewed a few student drivers. First, I spoke to senior Alana Pickering, who drives a 2004 Chevy Cobalt, and senior Edith Sjogren, who drives a 2011 Pontiac Vibe. When I asked Pickering why she picked that for a car and how she personalized it, she said “My dad found it on Facebook Marketplace for cheap and rebuilt the engine for me. After it was fixed, I put a bunch of my favorite music artist’s CDs in the car and put a Stitch plush in the back seat for laughs. I really love being able to pick up some of my friends and fit all our stuff in the trunk, since it’s a lot bigger than you would think.” Sjogren said of her Vibe, “It’s such a cute little hatchback and I love it. I can fit into so many tight parking spaces.”
According to data obtained from the BHS student services center, the car brand registered with students the most was Jeep, with the most common models being the Grand Cherokee and Compass. As for the opposite end of the spectrum, the brand with the least number of drivers was Oldsmobile, with only one car (an Oldsmobile Aurora) registered with the school. Determined to find out who drives such an obscure car, I tracked them down to interview them. When I asked the driver, who asked to remain anonymous, why they drive such an obscure car, they said, “Because they are unique and historic. I think these cars, and Oldsmobile as a whole, are really underrated. They were General Motors’ attempt at ‘futuristic luxury’ and had a lot of features other cars didn’t have at the time like a CD changer and adaptive cruise control. ” The anonymous driver also claims to own an Oldsmobile Silhouette, which was a luxury minivan that first came out in 1990. They said, “Not many people bought one, since it was priced a lot higher than the identical versions sold by Chevy and Pontiac. General Motors used a lot of badge engineering (putting different logos and brands on the same car to be sold by different companies) to save costs. Plus not a lot of people liked the design, and several people dubbed them the ‘Dustbuster vans’ because of their odd shape. That’s why I find them unique and rare” General Motors shut down Oldsmobile in 2003 due to declining profits, however, their cars still show up on roads, or in this case, the BHS student lot, from time to time.
As students continue to get their licenses and first cars, there will no doubt always be a great variety of cars in our lots. Student drivers will always have different and unique cars
