By Katie O’Meara ’27
Whether it’s waking up 45 minutes earlier than your boarder friends, battling traffic, or forgetting your iPad at home, being a day student at a school where most students board can be tricky. Yet, amidst the chaos, there’s a silver lining for these students: the ability to decorate their cars! In fact, many have found that sprucing up their vehicles brings them joy and relief.
John Freeman ’24’s parents gifted him a bright orange Subaru. To personalize his car, he adorned it with a mini model of his beloved vehicle which he placed on the dashboard. For Halloween, Freeman decorated the hood of his car as a big jack-o-lantern, inspired by its unique color. Freeman admitted that, as soon as he got the car, he knew he would dress it up; “it’s just something that [was] going to happen,” he said.
Connor Zeitlin ’25 uses his car to share his whimsical nature with the world. As Choate’s most famous Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) player, it’s no surprise that Zeitlin’s steel gray minivan sports a sticker from Critical Role, a D&D web show. As a surfer, he also has a sticker with waves that say “Seize the Day.” Zeitlin had a pair of dragon eyes glued onto his car’s bumper, and though, “they fell off very quickly, while they were on, I felt it gave the car a personality,” Zeitlin said.
Some day students, however, have reservations about decorating their cars. Gabi White ’24 said that despite having a short phase of wanting to completely cover her vehicle in rhinestones, “I believe my car is too special to have decorations on it.” Considering that she shares the vehicle with her father, she decided that bedazzling it may not have been the most practical choice. She is not alone in preferring a simple look; Zainab Khokha ’24 and Lukas Parapatt ’24 both opted for more simplistic looks for their vehicles. Parapatt said, “I prefer the way it looks without decorations. It’s … classier.”
Given the significant amount of time day students spend in their cars, it’s understandable that they want vehicles that reflect their individuality, whether through minimalist elegance or playful costumes. Personalizing one’s car can be one of the more rewarding aspects of being a day student, and after all, your car does so much for you, so why not return the favor?
