At the end of each school year there are always hundreds of different posts about people leaving their college dorm rooms and their roommates. They talk about the memories that they had together and what happened throughout the year; good and bad. But, as a commuter student I do not have to say goodbye to a single room because I live at home. I live in the same room year round. Instead I consider my college dorm room something else.

My car.

I spend about forty to fifty minutes in the car each day. Driving back and forth to school. Sometimes there is traffic and sometimes there is not. Being in the car is a big part of my college experience because it is what brings me to school every day. So, instead of a post about my college dorm room; this is a post about my college car.

Dear College Car,

I got you when I decided that I wanted commute to school instead of living there. My high school car was too old and beat down to be trustworthy enough to take me to school. My mom and I went to the dealer and knew we wanted to get a Corolla. It was a big enough car to fit the things I needed, but was not gigantic either. I remember you were the car in the showroom that still had the big red bow on it. We asked if it came with you. It did not.

You were the perfect car. I remember taking you home just a week later after buying you. You still did not seem like my car. You were new; unlike my old car that I had known so well. Driving you was a much smoother ride. You still had that new car smell. You had an AUX cord which seemed like the greatest thing to ever happen to me. Now five months later and a whole semester gone by, I know you’re my car.

You’ve witnessed good days at school and bad days at school. You’ve been there for the days that I thought I couldn’t get out of the car to go to class. You were there for the times that I just had to cry because school sucked. You’ve listened to my horrible singing all semester and my air musical instrument of the day. You’ve been there when I was stressed about all my assignments and I was trying to plan out how I was going to do them. You’ve listened to me talk to myself about stupid things and heard me yell at dumb drivers (I’m a Masshole, whoops).

You’ve held all the water bottles that I’ve had and forgot to take out. Despite all of my effort, you have gotten a few crumbs here in there in the back seat from my siblings. There have been times that you’ve smelt bad because I forgot a banana peel in the car (sorry). I promise I will get a car freshener one of these days.

You’ve brought me to my least favorite places (school) and my favorite places (the ice cream stand). You’ve kept me safe in bad weather when I still needed to drive to school. You’ve kept the gas mileage up, so my gas bill stays down.

Overall, my college experience would be completely different if I did not have you. So, huge thanks to my mom for totally hooking me up with a car like you.

Sincerely,

A commuter student