Transitioning from life in high school to life in college isn't always easy. What's worse, though, is when you are a college student and you make the decision to commute to school. Whether you live five minutes away from school, or an hour, here are seven things that all commuters know to be true.
1. All The Money You Save By Living Off Campus Disappears
Whether you spend it on filling up your gas tank, buying breakfast or lunch, purchasing semester parking or train passes, there is always that one expense that never seems to go away.
2. 8 a.m. Classes Mean Waking Up Before the Rest of the World
Having to get to class during rush hour means leaving yourself an hour’s time to travel to school on top of your normal commute time and still getting up early enough to get ready and plan your day.
3. Extracurricular Activities Are the Bane of Your Existence
Colleges just don’t seem to understand that commuters have to wake up before the sun even comes up on most days, yet they still schedule extracurricular activities around dinner time. No commuter wants to waste an additional 6 hours on campus after having 3-4 classes, or leave and come back to campus, just to be involved in an extracurricular.
4. Getting Together For Group Projects Is A Nightmare
You all live in different parts of the city, and sometimes that means it’s an hour commute for each of you to meet up for 20 minutes’ worth of work. Good thing is almost everything is electronic now-a-days.
5. Finding A Parking Spot Is Nearly Impossible
Whether you drive your car to campus or to a train station, finding a parking spot is just as hard because you have to deal with everyone else trying to park and get to class or to work.
6. Packed Trains Give You Anxiety
Trying to travel home after a long day on campus is only made worse during rush hour when the trains are already full and you have to squish your way inside.
7. Bad Weather Creates Mountains of Dread
Colleges are notorious for waiting until the last minute to cancel class or sending out the very ominous text or email stating to, “Use your discretion” on whether or not it is safe for you to come to class. Even though you know they probably won’t cancel class with the 2 inches of snow coming in, you still check every news site cancellation list and wake up at 4 a.m. to check your email.
