BY CHARLES SCHOOLER

There are approximately 4.09 million miles of road in the U.S. but at about 7:30 in the morning only about 5 miles of that road matters for Terrace Park students. It’s always a toss-up which route will get you to school fast and on time.

From my house, on the edge of TP, it takes approximately 11 minutes to get to school with no traffic, but I go the Indian Hill way which consists of Old Indian Hill and Miami, pretty much everyday . This brings us to our first option, the Indian Hill to Miami Connection or just Connection for short. This is arguably the fastest route to get to school, and for a while, it was kind of a secret. I remember back when I was a freshman and my sister would take the Connection, and we could get to school in 8 minutes.

I recently ran some time tests on the Connection and it took me 13’ 33.92” to get to school from my house. As the saying goes, “If everyone is fast, then no one is fast.” Since so many are travelling the Connection, the Connection OG’s like myself are seeing later arrival times.

Gunnar Nixon lives in Terrace Park and has always driven through Indian Hill. Once, Gunnar left at 7:36 expecting to be very late. The traffic lights aligned, and with a little speeding, it only took him about 4 minutes to get to the Newtown light. When he arrived on school grounds he couldn’t believe his eyes. The time read 7:43 when Nixon pulled into his spot in the junior lot. He burst through the doors panting just as Dr. Renner greeted him with, “The usual suspect.” He had one minute to spare to book it to Mr. Weiss’ room.

If you know the Crabtree family you know they have a big family. Jacob, the oldest boy has to wait on his two sisters Victoria and Kristen, so he rarely gets to school on time.

“I always love seeing the disappointment on Mrs. Douthit’s face at 7:46” says Crabtree.

Ryan Fields, another Mariemont resident, is one of the faces you may encounter while at the front desk around 7:45.

“It has to be between 30-50, at least 3 a week,” says Fields 

Fields blames his being tardy on waking up in the morning. “The 7:45 starting time is malarky” says Fields. Fields explains that he would get to school on time every day if it started at 8:00.

If your luck runs out and you do not make it to school one time you must retrieve your tardy pass from Mrs. Douthit at the front desk.

“On any given day it can range from 10-50 people who are tardy,” says Douthit

Seniors and juniors are the usual culprits. Not many people try to come up with excuses as to why they are late, most everyone gets their pass and just goes to class.

It all depends on where you live. If you live on the edge of Terrace Park like I do then the Connection may be your best bet to making it to school on time…or you could just wake up earlier.