When you tell people that you’re planning to commute to college, you’ll likely get one of two responses, either (1) “That’s so smart, you’ll save a lot of money,” or (2) “Don’t be a commuter, you’ll miss out on the full college experience!”

In my experience, I got a lot more of the second response from well-meaning friends and college guidance counselors who mistakenly thought that my residency status on campus was a topic up for debate—which it was most certainly not: I was going to be a commuter regardless of what people had to say.

At first, I didn’t really want to commute, I thought I wanted to live on-campus so that I could have independence and get “the full college experience.” Yeah, I fell for that shtick, but that was before I realized that “the full college experience” involved eating the same campus food every day, coming down with a cold every time somebody on campus sneezed, and not having a car. I’ve been a commuter since day one of my college career, and I firmly believe that if you’re in a position to commute, you absolutely should.

Let’s start with the basics:

Living on campus costs more money, a lot more money, plus you’re required to have a meal plan in most cases, which is an additional expense on your tuition. Living on campus also means that when the plague sweeps through, taking victims left and right, you’ll have nowhere to run and hide because—surprise—you live there too.

Additionally, dorm life means dealing with loud neighbors, night owl roommates, partying, other people’s messes, and “the college bubble.” If any of that sent a shiver up your spine or curled your lips in an “ew” shape, it’s smart to seriously consider commuting.

Once you decide to commute, you need to learn how to be a good commuter.

There are two types of commuters: good commuters and ghosts. Good commuters stick around after classes (unless the plague is present, and then they jet home and take mass quantities of vitamin C to boost their immunity), they study in the library, they get involved with clubs, they (sometimes) function as taxis for their on-campus friends, and over all they attempt to have an on-campus presence, which really isn’t that hard.

Ghosts, on the other hand, vanish from campus as soon as classes are over, withdrawing from social life and erasing themselves from their classmates’ memories until they return for classes the next day. Every commuter is a ghost once and a while, some start out that way, some end up that way, and others go through periods of displaying ghost-like behavior, usually around midterms when they really just need a break from socializing. We all get it—college is hard and sometimes it’s easier to just go home than deal with it, but it’s not healthy to be a ghost commuter all of the time.

Commuting isn’t for the weak.

You have to realize that commuting requires more effort on your behalf as a student. You have to wake up earlier than your classmates in order to get to school on time. Your arrival at class is much more dependent on the weather conditions. You have to think ahead and pack lunch or make sure you have enough college cash to buy food every day, and you’re not always going to be able to be involved in on-campus events, especially if they’re late at night.

But commuting is well worth the struggles.

When you decide to commute, you save yourself a lot of money, and you also create space to grow and discover who you are. You’ll learn how good you are at managing your time and sleep schedule. You’ll fall in love with your city all over again as you show it to your new college friends, and you’ll discover a lot of different traits and skills that you didn’t realize you had, all while learning to be a responsible and independent adult.

Commuting isn’t for everyone, but neither is living on campus. If you have the opportunity to commute, I highly recommend that you try it. You can change your mind later if you like, but the experience will last you forever.