There were several challenges I knew I was going to face my freshman year of college, but one that I had never dreamed of was not having a car. My first semester of college was spent car-less because my parents did not think I needed one, and I did not have an official license plate on it yet. Talk about devastation. I was livid that my new car would not make the journey to my new home with me. After spending nearly four years of high school bumming rides from friends and getting picked up by my parents, I wanted nothing more than the sweet independence of having my own car. However, that one semester I spent car-less did teach me that as much as I wanted my car there, I did not really need it, and there came some perks to not having a car.

Not having a car provides an opportunity to meet new people because it forces you to catch rides with someone, so that means there would be at least one other person in the car to. This led to conversation and provided an opportunity to talk and get to know them, which was one major perk I enjoyed about it.

The next perk was saving so much money. All the money that would have spent on gas last semester was saved thanks to not having a car. I personally saved money because I did not have a way of transportation to go anywhere, so it made me rethink whether or not I really needed the item. While there were times where that really stunk, it also helped distinguish what items were necessary and which ones were not worth the time. Also, not having a car saved money on a parking pass for the university, and parking passes are becoming more expensive these days.

Another perk of not having a car was the exercise I gained. I walked much more when I was without a car, and extra exercise never hurts while in college. With easy access to so much delicious food, that freshman 15 creeps up, so the walking was beneficial to my health.

Not having a car also taught me a thing or two about public transportation. The bus system was not that bad once I figured out which line travels where. Be aware of what bus line you hop on though because hopping on the wrong one the first time taking a bus is an adventure.

Also, never worrying about finding a parking spot on campus was a nice perk to no car. Finding parking at a dorm with maybe 50 parking spots was a serious pain and usually resulted in more walking.

While there are a few perks to not having a car in college, there are also a lot of downsides. For example, I was relying on people to drive me around places. However, not having my car made me appreciative of having one at all. Is not having a car doable? Absolutely. You learn to make do with what you have, and it leads to some cool perks. There’s always a bright side in situations like these.