When I applied to colleges, I only applied to three, and I was accepted into all of them. Butler University was a medium distance of three hours, Saint Mary's College was a short twenty minute drive, and the University of Tampa was a whopping 17 hour drive or a four hour plane ride. Ultimately, I narrowed it down to the University of Tampa and Saint Mary's, and obviously I picked the latter of the two.
This week, I stayed home in pursuit of getting more rest, focusing, and also taking care of the five week old puppy that we had come to rescue. However, as I commuted each day, I was left to learn the hard way about what it's like to commute to a campus where they advocate living on campus until your senior year.
That's right, Saint Mary's requires a solid six semesters of living on campus to "ensure that you get the most out of your college experience", and if you don't live on campus you have to live within a certain mile radius and with your parents. I'm not going to get started on how I feel about this rule, but I will address what it's like to commute to a campus where 84% of students live on campus.
My first day commuting, I got a parking ticket. At the moment, Saint Mary's is currently renovating the athletic center so they closed off half of the main student parking lot. The solution? Park in the grass.
I learned the hard way, don't park where you've never parked before because even though it may seem like you can park there, you're probably in the first eight rows on the west side of the lot reserved for faculty and staff, rather than the two rows on the east side reserved for commuters.
Additionally, I learned that you get an absurd amount of time to think about anything and everything - even the things that are weighing heavy on your heart. So if there's anything not-so-great going on in your life, chances are it's going to surface your mind on your drive to school.
You'll also get extremely tired of driving, which will make your drive even less enjoyable than it already was. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the space and solitude the first couple of days, but it got old real quick.
However, there are good things to commuting as well, like the fact that you get to sleep in your own bed and every morning (if you leave yourself enough time), you can get coffee from Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks.
Another great thing about commuting is that you know you can always return for home-cooked food, and you can go to bed as early as you want without disrupting your roommates if they want to stay up later. Commuting also means watching "The Office" as you fall asleep and being able to watch videos at night with no headphones, so you don't wake your roommates up.
I must say, commuting for a week was interesting and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it. It's a good thing when you let it be, but potentially it could be burdensome. Commuting obviously isn't meant for everyone, and I'm still trying to figure out if it's for me, but time will tell. Everyone is different. If you ever contemplate commuting and it's an option for you, I urge you to try it for a week and see how you feel about it - especially because it takes time and dedication.
Ultimately, I can say it's been a good experience, but living in the dorm is also a good experience as well. If you can handle waking up a little bit earlier, a parking ticket or two, and a good nights rest try it out; but, if you're feeling "dorm sweet dorm" rather than "home sweet home", stick with it. There's nothing wrong with sticking with what you like!
