Ever since I had thought about going away to college, I've thought about going awaaay to college. I have always wanted to go somewhere with relatively warm weather year-round - somewhere away from my parents to get the college experience portrayed to us through stories from our older friends or even the movies.

I also wanted that sense of independence that I always imagined would come with moving out for the school year. Even when I chose a school about a half hour away from my hometown, I was all set to dorm there. It wasn't until the August before I started when I found out I would be placed in a triple meant for two people. That's when I backed out.

I started telling myself I was making the smarter financial decision, including the roughly thousands of dollars I would save even with gas, food, etc. Sure, I imagined I would miss out on much of campus life, but regardless, I decided to commute. It's only been 5 days in, but I've learned a handful of things as a freshman commuter.

First, most people I meet are generally eager to socialize and make new friends. I had always heard from my friends who had already started college that making friends in college wasn't easy. As a commuter, I assumed it would be even harder because I wouldn't be around campus as much to socialize. I realized my first few days that for the most part, nobody knows anyone. Keeping this in mind made it a lot easier for me to feel comfortable about introducing myself, and fortunately, everyone I had talked to was willing to make a new friend.

I'm also learning that some organized events are actually worth going to. I'm usually not the person to be associated with the word organized and typically did not appreciate many organized events in high school, either. I was very hesitant about going to organized events opening weekend. A lot of them were mandatory ones that forced you to go and be social, but others were just simply recommended. The big reason is that I thought I didn't know anyone and didn't want to show up alone. In the end, I met up with some people that I did know who introduced me to other people and so on. It ended up being way better then I expected, and it was a lot of fun.

So far, I'm pretty happy with my decision to commute, so if it's something you're thinking about, I urge you to join some clubs and find out more information on athletic events and other activities, as it's important to get involved.