My fourth and final year as a commuter is rapidly coming to an end. It's been a great four years being in college.

Despite the fact that I opted out of staying in a dorm, I don't feel like I missed out on any vital part of the "college experience," despite what everyone tried to tell me going into it.

However, along with wisdom and priceless experience, after almost four years of driving back and forth five days a week or more, I've come up with a compilation of things that you will find yourself saying for the entirety of your commuter career.

1. "Sorry about the mess, I live here."

"Here," in this case, means your car. It's the preface that you give everyone that you're offering a ride to as you unlock the door. For me personally, I have half my closet in the back seat of my car. The floor on the passenger side somehow always turns into a mass-grave for water bottles I say I'm going to return eventually.

People (often who don't have their own car) don't seem to get how someone's car can get so dirty, but they don't realize that your vehicle becomes your second home when you're driving to school and work and back to your actual house.

2. "You don't get to complain to me about 8 a.m.'s."

This has been one of my biggest pet peeves over the course of my undergrad career. Obviously, no matter what, no college student wants to wake up to get to a class at 8 a.m., especially when it's cold out or raining.

When you live on campus and have a class at eight in the morning, you can wake up 15 minutes before class starts and roll up in your pajamas if you want, get through the lecture, and go back to your dorm to go back to sleep or change or whatever.

But when you're a commuter with an 8 a.m., you have to, at the bare minimum, plan in the time for your commute, which for some commuters (including myself) can be up to 30 to 40 minutes. Plus the time it takes to get ready because no one wants to go back home to shower and change after they've already gotten to campus and snagged a good parking spot. Which leads me to my next point-

3. "I only get here this early for the parking."

You think that I genuinely like getting here super early for my first class? Do you know how early that means my alarm has to go off at home? Believe me, I'm not an early bird. Most college students aren't and that's why we try to avoid the afore-mentioned 8 a.m. classes. I don't like waking up early, but I like being able to get a great parking spot that's close to campus and my classes because I go from commuting to school directly to commuting to work--and I want all of that to happen as quickly as possible, especially in the winter.

4. "The snow is worse than you think it is."

This is a call-out to the students who dorm. You guys don't get to judge how bad the snow is and how much it affects the road and driving conditions because you guys don't have to drive in it.

Sure, a couple inches on campus is annoying and not fun to walk in, but driving in the snow is terrible; especially when the plows haven't gone out yet, and especially because, for some reason, everyone forgets how to drive like a normal human being once it's not sunny and 75 anymore. Drivers are overly cautious or not nearly cautious enough.

There are days when I've honestly contemplated whether or not the risk of driving the 40 minutes (which when it's snowy is closer to an hour) to school for class is worth the attendance points.

5. "Yes, I've made plenty of friends."

The most common misconception about commuters is that we aren't able to make friends simply because we don't dorm. I can't tell you how many people have asked me over the course of my college career if it was difficult to make friends because I decided to commute instead of residing on campus.

My favorite people are the ones who just bluntly phrase it as, "So, do you have friends?"

The urge I always have is to respond, "Yes but you aren't one of them, goodbye," but then I remember that people are just curious and they mean well--it's just not coming across that way. I'm not sure where the notion that commuters have no friends or can't make friends came from, but it's a load of BS; I can assure you.

I've still managed to be a part of groups on campus (like Odyssey) and I've made some really great friends. Don't let people freak you out making you think you're going to be alone because you're not paying the university's room and board.

6. "No, I didn't miss out on the college experience."

Along with the assumption that you have no friends, people tend to assume that you must feel like you're missing out on something if you don't live on-campus. Again, not totally sure where this came from. I don't think that my college experience was any less fulfilling than anyone else's because of my decision to commute.

You can still go to parties, join clubs, hang out and have fun even if you need to eventually drive home. You can still stay over in someone's dorm if you need to (like if you partied too hard and know that it is wrong and dangerous to drink and drive), if you just want to have a slumber party or whatever the case may be.

To be completely honest, I don't know what vague "college experience" everyone talks about and thinks we commuters are missing out on, but I promise you're not going to be filled with an inherent sense of regret and lacking because you take your car or the bus to school.

7. "Just because I can drive you somewhere, in general, doesn't mean that I can right now."

Luckily, I haven't had many friends who try to use and abuse the power that comes with me having a car. But not everyone else that I know who is a commuter has been so lucky. Having your own vehicle can come with the assumption that if a friend or the group needs to be driven somewhere, that you will do that and do it happily. Sometimes, though, you just need to say no.

Whether it's because you don't want to or because you don't like the fact that plans are being hinged on you and your car, sometimes it's just more than you want to deal with--and that is okay. It's not always on you to be the one to meet other people where they are or get everyone where they want to be. It's a nice thing to do for people sometimes, but driving around costs money in gas, oil changes and general maintenance on your vehicle. However, the flip side of this is-

8. "If you really need a ride back to campus I can drive you,"/"If you need a DD tonight call me."

Because, as much as we don't want to constantly be responsible for the transportation of our friends, we're only human. If I'm not going out with my friends, I won't offer to drive them to the bars. However, my soul isn't made of ice, and so I always add on that if plans fall through or their DD bails or gets drunk with them, call me.

I don't care how late it is. I would rather wake up to a drunk phone call from them asking for a ride than getting an emergency call from a medical response person because someone decided to drive drunk. I'd rather my friends plan well and not need me, but I'll always be a last-resort safety net for them.

9. "Yes, I know my check engine light is on."

I'm terrible when it comes to this. My check engine light will come on and I'll justify not going to the mechanic by saying my car still sounds and feels like it's running fine, so it can wait. Then it will start making some kind of noise and I'll just turn the radio up. People always like pointing it out once they get into my car when I'm going to drive us somewhere.

As if that orange light doesn't stare me in the face every single day. Maybe it's because they see it and it makes them feel unsafe? I have no idea because I've never asked. Usually, I just let them know that yes, I'm aware of the notification and that no, I haven't taken my car to the mechanic yet because I'm either too busy, too broke or both.

10. "My commute is the easiest, most relaxing part of my day."

Everyone always asks me if I get bored of driving or sick of it. People always think that because my commute is a bit long, that I must loathe the thought of doing it. Honestly, though? It's the most laid-back part of my day. I get to play whatever music I want, sing as loud as I want and nothing else really matters. I'm not doing homework, I'm not worried about work responsibilities. I just get to jam out and get to where I'm going. It's a good way to start and end each day.

To all my fellow commuters out there, I get you. I understand the struggles and the benefits that come with commuting to college and I understand how people's assumptions can get tiresome.

At the end of the day, everyone is going to be a commuter once they get a job, so we're really just ahead of the curve on that.

We've got these few mantras (and I'm sure you could each add your own) and a steady route, so just keep cruising through these next few years. We got this.