College students have all kinds problems of their own, whether it may be student loans, the not-up-to-par-maybe-not-edible food in the caf, roommate problems, etc. but have you ever thought about the struggles of the commuter students on campus?

I myself am a commuter student and let me tell you something, it is NOT easy. Yes we may be able to sleep in our own bed and not have to deal with a roommate, but there are problems bigger than that and we are the ones who have to deal with them. So here are 18 things that commuter students know all too well:

1. You think you wake up early? Well let me tell you something.

“Oh my god I have to wake up at 7:30 A.M. for my 8:00 A.M. class, I’m so tired ugh!” No. just stop. Don’t even go there. We commuters have to wake up at least at 6:30 AM and some even earlier to get to our 8:00 A.M. classes. Traffic jams happen and they seem to happen even more when you’re in a hurry to get to class on time.

2. Home is where Netflix and Bed are

“Hey are you on campus?” “No” “Can you come to campus?” *cough cough* “No…” îThere’s nothing better than going home to Netflix and bed after a long day of classes. And once you get home, you don’t want to leave. Sorry, some of you are just not important enough for me to waste half a tank of gas for.

3. Parking in the middle of nowhere

“Why are you out of breath?” Hmm...well I don't know maybe because I just had to walk 20 minutes to get to class from the commuter parking lot that is in the middle of BFE. Shouldn’t our parking lots be closer to the buildings since we actually make use of them instead of leaving our cars there parked for months? Just saying.

4. … and trying to find a parking spot

When you actually get to the parking lot and then there are NO PARKING SPOTS so you have to make your own somewhere in the grass of risk getting a ticket for not parking in the commuter parking lot.

5. We carry out entire lives in our book packs

“Jesus, do you carry your whole house in your book pack?” Yes, yes I do. Unfortunately we don’t have dorms to go back to and get books and other necessary items for each class between breaks. And, we are not going to walk to our cars and back to get them either, so we shove it all in out bags and hope for the best while enduring back pains.

6. Our biggest fears are big gaps between classes

There will be times where your first class in early in the morning and your next one is not until 4 in the afternoon. It is then that we roam around campus trying to figure out what to do for the time being, because going home is just not an option.

7. We know the library all too well

Name any place in the library and we’ll tell you where it is. We spend way too much time there that we are sure the librarians know our names or at least who we are by now.

8. Some of us still have curfews

That’s what happens when you still live with your parents. No matter how old you are, if you still live with them you have a curfew unlike the resident students who can "go home" whenever they want.

9. No, I did not wake up like this

I remember reading on Yik Yak one time “You know who the commuter students are by the way they dress.” We’re aware that we are a little “dressed up” so stop, we’ve heard it before and we’re not ashamed of looking fine af.

10 “Hey do you want…” “No, sorry I have work”

Unlike some of the students on campus, we have lives outside of campus. After all, we are locals and we have work on the weekdays and weekends. So the saying “No, sorry I have work” when people invite you places is all too familiar.

11. Flaky professors who cancel classes without warning

Dear Professors, Please send emails if you do decide to cancel class and please do it with enough time to spare. Sincerely, Commuter students everywhere

12. Taking naps in your backseat is a norm

When we’re not at the library and have time to spare, this is what you can catch us doing:

13. You feel like an outcast on campus…

Seriously, this is the hard truth sometimes. It’s harder to make friends when you’re not on campus 24/7 and you’re not aware of half of the activities they do on campus. You start to feel like everyone there has their own group and you’re the odd one out.

14. … So you befriend other commuters and you band together.

We don’t feel as alone in a group because we understand each other's struggles and can relate.

15. It's the best thing ever when you make friends that live on campus.

And when you finally make friends on campus, you’re like a unicorn to them. They don’t see commuters often and your other commuter friends start to feel a little left out because you hang out with the students on campus more. They let you sleep over in their dorms and try to get you to get involved more on campus.

16. But sometimes, you still feel left out.

As you scroll through your Instagram you see pictures of your best friends in other colleges with their new roommate/BFF and you start to feel left out. You don’t get to have a cute dorm room or have that sense of independence that they do.

17. People think we aren't "getting the whole college experience." Girl, bye.

But guess what? We do! And we can! We can go visit our friends in college and have a sneak peak of what living in college feels like. We can also spend the night at our friend’s dorms on campus after long hours of studying or parties. We basically get the best of both worlds.

18. People think you’re saving money, but have you seen gas prices?

Unfortunately we’re not saving as much money as you think and it seems like every day we can relate more and more to adults when we start talking about the price of gas, but that’s okay because that’s nowhere as much as spending x amount of dollars on room and board.

So next time you think you’re having a hard time waking up in the morning or think you have it hard period think about the struggles of your fellow commuter friends be thankful you don’t have to go through them.