If you experience the same anxiety every college student does when buying textbooks each week when you pump gas into your car, you may be a commuter student. Instead of frantically putting a different shirt on when you wake up in your dorm room, and brushing your hair as you run down the stairs 15 minutes before your eight a.m. writing class, you’re doing 85 in the passing lane praying that you’ll make it in time for the last half of your class. It’s all you can hope for. You plan around traffic, not breakfast dates with friends. You’re accountable still to your parents and your employer, but not to your RA and roommate. Commuting to school comes with its own responsibilities and its very own unique campus culture.
Not everyone who lives close to campus commutes, I’ve met many residents who live even closer than I do who choose to stay on campus, and the main argument that they present to me is that they want to be involved. They want the experience of being away from home. They’re chasing after that – what I would argue misconstrued – idea of college life; the absolute independence, that irreplaceable sense of freedom. To my residence friends, this is equated with the new-found responsibilities of dorm life, the separation from parents and the shift from one community to another. Heck, we’re all told as incoming freshmen that college is a brand new start. Many of my friends appreciate the clean slate. As a commuter, I remain very much active in my community back home, all those 25 minutes of driving away from my school. There is a part of me very deeply rooted there, and it shows through in my interactions on campus. My fellow commuters are very much the same, they go home to jobs and run errands for their families in-between classes, and we all go home to our own beds at the end of the day.We snuggle with our beloved pets on the weekend, and still do the dishes side by side with our younger sibling. All that they are carries over between home and school, and their keen sense of responsibility and knack of organizing an effective planner shine through every day.
Everyone, resident and commuter alike, has a tough workload to organize. But factoring in an off-campus job and obligations back home into the inherently independent life of a college student is a unique challenge commuter students face. Resident students always ask me, “Why did you choose to stay at home?” Now, I could respond in the negative, and talk about the financial benefit, but that is hardly my reason for commuting. My argument is this: commuting is not a restriction on my personal freedom, it is the greatest benefit to it. I can leave whenever I want. And until I started college, I never knew how much I would appreciate this fact. But you can also stay; the doors are not barred to you. So much of what makes college great are the small communities you build for yourself, which in turn form your contribution to the campus overall. Getting involved in any way you can is key to getting the most out of your college experience. Many of my commuter friends, myself included, serve as EBoard members in various student organizations. We are as much a part of the college as our resident peers are. In fact, I feel that my greatest asset as a student is my unique perspective and connections off-campus, because I can bring the best of each “world” to the other. Which in turn, helps me grow as a better individual.
Between classes, meetings and squad trips to Fuddruckers and Panera, I am able to be a full time student while also exploring my other passions. It’s different for every commuting student, but we each have something separate from our academic lives that gives us joy and direction, and the ability to continue them year-round. Sharing these with each other has helped us grow closer and proves that we are not being deprived of those life-long friendships that the best roommates offer. Whether we are all packed into one car heading to Cambridge to see our friend’s band perform, spending Halloween at Connor’s Farm, a friend’s favorite haunted maze, or laughing at my epoxy-stained jeans and endless chatter of boats, we’re enjoying the best time of our lives with those who matter. Both at home and on-campus. It’s the best of both worlds.
