As a college student living home, it can get quite repetitive hearing the same old comments from those who live on campus. For me, I thought living on campus at first was a necessity in order to fulfill the college experience. My brother Matthew, who is a senior at Rider, commuted all four years, which meant I would commute as well.
As the year progressed, time after time I would stay on campus until late at night or in some cases, sleepover in friends' dorms, I felt the excitement for that one night. But living on campus is not something I could do every day because of the tight schedule I run between my morning routine and homework/night routine.
I conducted a survey of Rider commuters and non-Rider commuters and asked for their least favorite phrases about being a commuter. The following are their anonymous responses.
“Why don’t you just live on campus?”
If I wanted to live on campus, I'm sure I would have put my deposit in already. But who can pass up your OWN room, your OWN bathroom and mom's delicious home-cooked meals for sharing a room/bathroom and having Daly's Dining Hall suffice every night?
*Insert town* “Wow, that’s such a far drive, why do you do that to yourself?”
For me personally, a 25-minute commute isn't all that bad. You just listen to your music and the commute feels a whole lot shorter.
“Do you like commuting?”
“I could never commute, I would hate that.”
“You miss out on the college experience by not living on campus.”
This is one of my BIGGEST pet-peeves, not to mention a fallacy.
Telling those who still attend college but commute that they will never get to have that exhilarating feeling by being able to live independently is just rude.
“Don’t you get tired of driving back and forth all the time?”
Some days, yes, but if you make the car ride fun for yourself, like I said previously, the drive feels a lot shorter.
“Why are you always here if you don’t live on campus?”
Because I can, I'm allowed to be on campus for as long as I like. Just because I don't live on campus doesn't mean I can't hang out with my friends, grab dinner, etc.
“You must spend a lot on gas.”
Well… yes this is true, but it's not that bad.
“You’re not a real college student if you don’t live on campus.”
If I hear anyone say this to me, you better believe I am standing my ground. If I wasn't a real college student would I be involved in two clubs, one organization and two executive boards? Think again. In my opinion, living on campus isn't what it's made out to be.
“That sucks you have to drive here all the time.”
It's really not that bad. Yes there are days where it's early in the morning or late at night, but it really isn't that bad.
As a sophomore, I'll be honest, if it wasn't for being a commuter, I wouldn't have met some of my best friends, who are also commuters. Living only 25 minutes from Rider, it seemed wasteful to spend that extra money for dorming when I'm so close to home, and I have all the conveniences I'm accustomed to. Yes, there are days where commuting can be a pain in the ass — heavy rain or snow — however, I've learned to manage the situations and judge what can be driveable in and not. If, in fact, the weather is too severe for my commute and classes aren't canceled, professors do understand that there are commuters, which I am thankful for.
To commuters: You do you, don't listen to those that try and put you down, their negativity isn't worth your time. You're still earning credits to graduate, you're still getting involved, you're still having your fair share of fun and stress.
To students who dorm/adults: Be mindful of what you say to others and spread positivity.
The minimum wage is not a living wage.
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