My first semester as a commuter college student has officially come to close. I have only been commuting for four months, and I already have noticed many commuter-only struggles. If you're a commuter, you can probably relate to some of these.
1. Waking up early.
Your first class is at 8 am, and as a commuter, it takes you 30 minutes or more to get to campus. Factor in the time it takes you to get ready and find parking, you're probably waking up around 6:30. If you lived on campus, you would probably be waking up around 7:30 am. That's a whole hour of sleep lost right there!
2. Hearing people that live on campus complain about early classes.
Excuse me, no, you're not allowed to complain. You can wake up 30 minutes before your 8 am starts. I have to wake up at least an hour and a half before it starts, so don't complain.
3. Parking
Let me just say, trying to find parking in the middle of the day is actually the worst thing ever. Parking in CarParc after 9 am is like trying to find a parking spot at the mall two days before Christmas, it doesn't happen. If you live on campus, don't complain about hearing people say how hard it was to find a spot, you don't understand our daily struggle.
4. When your professor cancels class, after you get on campus.
If you have other classes that day, it's not all that bad. But if it was your only class that day... sorry, man.
5. Long breaks between classes.
As a commuter student, you don't have the luxury of going to your dorm and taking a nap in those four hours. You'll probably end up being stuck in the commuter lounge that smells strongly of B.O. After a while, though, in between class naps in the back of your car become a completely normal thing.
6. All the fun things happen on campus when you aren't there.
And then you have a debate on whether or not it is worth the gas to drive there, usually it's not. Unless there's free food, free food is always worth it. Especially pizza.
7. Your entire life is in your backpack.
Unlike the people who live on campus, you can't just run to your dorm and get books that you need in between classes. And you're not about to walk all the way back to your car, have a hundred people ask you if you're leaving, grab your books, and walk up all those stairs. So you throw everything in your bag and hope for the best while enduring back pain like no other.
8. Rush hour becomes a thing you know all too well.
Your biggest fear is having a class that ends around 5 pm. It takes you at least an extra 10 minutes to get out of the parking garage, and that quick 20-minute commute can easily become an hour long commute.
While there are many, many other commuter problems, you have to admit, being a commuter can be kind of great. You get to sleep in your own bed every night, you get to avoid the dreadful dining hall food and have home cooked meals, you don't have noisy roommates waking you up at 3 am, and you can sleepover in a friends dorm whenever you want.
You're basically Hannah Montana, you get the best of both worlds
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