Winter break has ended, and as a result, airports were flooded with droves of students coming back to Berkeley for the spring semester. One of these students was Rebu Sproul.

A second-semester freshman, Rebu was returning to school from the Midwest. “My flight landed at 7 in the morning, and my first class was at 8:30,” Rebu said. “I figured I had about 45 minutes to unpack all my stuff before I’d have to leave for classes, so I thought it would be enough time.”

However, rideshares from Oakland International Airport to Berkeley regularly cost between $20 and $30, and at peak hours from the airport, prices can get even higher.

Fortunately for Rebu, a new trend has risen in which fellow students at UC Berkeley share one ride back to campus. By doing so, a one-way fare can be split between 2 or more people, so a $30 ride can end up costing each person only about $10-15.

Unfortunately for Rebu, most students come back during the Sunday and Monday before school starts, not on the first day of classes. “I looked around for people wearing Cal backpacks, Cal hats, anything that even remotely looked like Cal merchandise,” she said. “I got so desperate, I would have even shared a ride with someone wearing a red Stanford shirt.”

“I spent about 20 minutes just looking for UC Berkeley students, going up to random people and asking where they were going, and the like,” explained Rebu when asked about how she dealt with her situation. “People just ignored me! No one seems to have any sympathy for a student with morning classes.”

At approximately 7:45, Rebu says she gave up on trying to find a rideshare and walked to the nearby BART station. “Had I gone to the BART station straightaway from landing, I would have made it to my class on time,” ruminated Rebu. “To be fair, I probably would have been late anyway. BART was experiencing delays for the entirety of that day — you know, just another typical day.”

The next time Rebu comes home from a break, she says she plans to just drive instead. “My car won’t ignore my pleas for help, it won’t run behind schedule or be backed up, and I won’t get desperate enough to share the ride with a Stanford student!”

This is a satirical article written purely for entertainment purposes.