By Angela Graham/ Special to The Collegian­

The wheels of my car roll into the parking lot. My search begins before my 9 o’clock class.

Passing full rows, experience whispers to me so my feet won’t hear.

“Go straight to the back.”

But there are no spaces there either. Around and around we drive. Our cars like a chain of ants throughout the lot, each of us looking for that space.

We inadvertently follow one another, our minds filled with our own dreams and worries, but all with the same hopeful question.

I drive down a row where a space would be convenient. The row is full. Those who had inconvenienced themselves much earlier have taken those spots.

I concede to them and drive to the next lot with the rest. There are more of us ants here too. The sooner the feet are moving, the better. I drive to the SaveMart Center parking lot. I get the space with the direct view of the fence.

Step by step.

Like ants looking for the forgotten piece of pizza, our steps converge on the campus.

From Clovis to Calwa and beyond Fresno; from Dinuba, Delano, Parlier, Porterville, Oakhurst, Mendota, Sanger, Selma, Tranquility and more, our steps converge on campus.

We come for our small piece of pizza (The Pie) to be enriched with the knowledge we didn’t have before. We take it all back to our homes, our towns, our villages, and our families for the betterment of ourselves and those we love. We put it all together throughout many other days.

But now it is the first day of class.