Divya Khan | The Chronicle
From buying senior backpacks to attending Senior Sunrise, members of the Mason High School (MHS) Class of 2027 are embracing their senior year with a variety of traditions. Many seniors have purchased and painted a senior parking spot, their ideas ranging from Pinterest-inspired creations to freehand paintings and plans they have developed over the years.
While the tradition is shared among the MHS seniors, students’ parking spots vary widely in design. The visuals and stories behind each space are unique, with students drawing inspiration from religion, nostalgia, culture, and other personal interests. Aiden Nyhuis, one of the leaders of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), painted his parking spot with the words “God’s Not Dead”.
“I got the idea from the movie God’s Not Dead,” Nyhuis said. “I’ve watched that movie since I was young, and it inspired me to speak out on my faith [because the movie is] about this kid who has to defend the existence of God in his college against his professor and class.”
Nyhuis said that he considered several possible designs before choosing one connected to his faith. He said he chose his design to include an important part of who he was.
“I thought of doing something like lacrosse or my favorite superhero,” Nyhuis said. “But my true identity is in Jesus. I thought about who I am and what I live for, and that was the deciding factor in my spot.”
While Nyhuis’s design was inspired by his spiritual beliefs, Dominic Thomas looked to music when deciding how to decorate his senior parking space. Thomas said he based his spot on Kanye West’s album titled “Graduation”.
“I grew up not only listening to that specific album, but also Kanye’s [music in general],” Thomas said. “I think [my parking spot] is a good representation of my younger years. Getting older, you start to care less about people’s perception of you: who you are and what you do, how you dress, and who you hang out with. I feel like that was a big thing for me when I was younger.”
Thomas said that Kanye’s music is a big part of his life, and he hopes that his parking spot will represent it well. He said that painting his spot an album cover from Kanye’s music felt like a full-circle moment.
“I was going to do [another design], but then I decided that the album cover would be a better [option],” Thomas said. “[My spot] is a good representation of me in my senior year, no matter what people think about it.”
Thomas focused on his current interests, but for Nico Marietta, inspiration was drawn from his childhood for his senior space. Marietta painted his spot with a Lego Spider-Man design, merging his favorite superhero and childhood pastimes. Marietta said he feels like each superhero is different and that he sees himself relating to Spider-Man.
“Spider-Man is very nostalgic for me because growing up, that was kind of my comfort movie,” Marietta said. “I feel like I resonate with Spider-Man because he is always trying to do the right thing, even if he is not getting credit for the things he’s doing behind the mask.”
Marietta said he used to watch the Spider-Man movies as a kid and that his spot ties his childhood to senior year. He said the Marvel movies were something that his family could connect over when he was growing up.
“I remember always watching [Spider-Man] with my siblings,” Marietta said. “Painting my spot is what made senior year real for me. It feels like not that long ago that I was with my two siblings watching [Spider-Man] for the first time.”
Following the trend of childhood entertainment inspiration, Reaghan Richardson said she also got her senior spot idea from nostalgic media. Richardson painted the original Disney Channel logo from the 2010s commercials with the words, “I’m Reaghan, and you’re watching my senior year” across the spot.
“If you know me, you know I love Disney Channel,” Richardson said. “I’ve loved it ever since I was younger; to this day I can only go to sleep if I watch one of those Disney Channel shows. They were serotonin boosts.”
Richardson said that she chose her design based on her love for Disney Channel and her desire to make her spot unique. She said that she still keeps that piece of her childhood in her life.
“I wanted to do something a little bit niche, a little bit more original,” Richardson said. “Everyone was kind of doing similar things, similar shapes, similar colors, but I feel like [my parking spot] fits me.”
Rather than choosing a childhood memento, Elisa Hefferan said she found inspiration in her cultural background when outlining her parking spot. Hefferan painted a yellow background with a pink and green piñata, the Spanish words “ Y tu tiempo se acabo!”, translating to “Your time is up!”, written across the space. Hefferan said that the words come from a song associated with celebrations in her family’s Mexican culture. The song is sung when a person hits a piñata, and once the song ends, party guests sing, “Tu tiempo se acabo.”
“Mexican culture [is a big thing], the parties and the song that goes with it, the very last line: ‘and your time has ended,’” Hefferan said. “I’m a senior; my time here at high school has ended. That was the inspiration behind [my parking spot].”
Hefferan said she enjoys connecting with her heritage, and that she wanted her spot to represent that love. She was able to connect the Mexican festivities in her childhood with this tradition signifying her final year in high school.
“I wanted it to be something more personal, something meaningful,” Hefferan said. “I grew up hearing that song all the time. [My culture] is something really important to me and [I wanted] to show that through my parking spot.”
Hefferan said that when picking her spot, she thought of doing other designs to represent her youth, but she ended up picking what represented her culture. She said she was not sure what she was going to choose as a design, but listened to her family’s suggestions.
“There’s a difference between childhood toys and something that actively represents your culture,” Hefferan said. “[The spot] was my mom’s original idea. Your family, your friends, that’s such a big part of my life.”
Hefferan said that by including a Spanish phrase, personal and familial significance was more important than a universal understanding of the meaning behind her spot. She said that Mason is full of diverse heritage, and she hopes for students to see that through her parking space.
“Maybe not everyone understood [the design], but I knew what it meant, and that’s what was important to me,” Hefferan said. “Think about all the culture here at Mason. We may be living here in Mason, Ohio, but we’re still proud of who we are, and hopefully [people] understand that I’m proud of who I am.”
