As my sophomore year of college steadily approaches, I can’t help but feel left out. I have amazing friends, and I do not envy the pictures on Instagram featuring inebriated college girls standing in front of a Bud Light banner.
My friends talk about how exciting it will be to pick roommates in our friend group, but I sit and know I won’t have the same experience. Next year, I will be a commuter. To any college student, it is as if saying “commuter” will bring back He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
This will be my reality next year.
Although I enjoy living with my friends, residential life has been tough, to say the least. I’m the type who needs absolute silence to do my work. On a school night when I have 20-page speeches to read, plus 30 pages of Adult Psych to take notes on, I overhear girls bragging about "Thirsty Thursday" in the hallway.
It’s not like I want to hear this either, it’s just kind of hard to ignore when they’re practically shouting it with the RAs down the hall.
This article is not about putting down the people who drink. It’s college -- I know there will be drinking no matter what school I’m in. The shouting makes it hard to concentrate and because of this, I end up scrolling through Twitter or spending 11 minutes and 33 seconds crying through Kylie Jenner’s video for her daughter.
(Hey, Stormi is a cool name. What was I saying? Exactly.)
So, I will be a commuter next year, but that’s OK.
I will have free laundry services instead of wrestling with the tired, old machines in the basement. I won’t have to lug my 50-pound laundry bag up three flights of stairs or down the long parking lot when I bring my laundry home.
I won’t have to wait in line to print two pages of paper or pay to print in color. Most importantly, there will actually be WIFI -- good WIFI.
Delicious home-cooked meals, which means I won’t have to eat grilled chicken every meal anymore. Don’t get me wrong, our dining hall is much better than other schools, and the staff are the sweetest human beings. I may not have any horror stories, like finding a cockroach in my salad or gnawing on a moldy piece of bread, but I do get bored of the options.
I like cooking, so I would just prefer to make something at home instead of finding space in the tiny communal kitchen. My family is Italian, so food is especially important.
I get a nice, quiet room to study in. On study breaks, I get to snuggle with my dog as much as I want. No Thirsty Thursdays, no screaming, just me and my dog watching TV shows.
I can lay down in my comfy queen-sized bed with extra blankets on winter nights. I can go to bed on my own time and not worry about having to change in the girl’s bathroom.
No shower shoes! I don’t have to feel claustrophobic anymore when showering. One bathroom all to myself.
I will miss living with my friends and staying up so late watching old Vines and cooking videos to the point where we don’t even know what we’re doing anymore. But, you know what?
None of that has to change.
I know these will be my forever friends so we have our whole lives to live with each other. If you have friends like mine, you’ll feel the same way. I only live eight minutes away, but my friends have designated a special spot for me when I need a place to sleep next year.
Never be ashamed to be a commuter, and don’t turn it into a bad thing when it really isn’t. If you have good friends, they will not abandon you.
