By Laura Quach | Health Editor
Being a student commuter at a university has many challenges that students who live on campus would not be able to understand.
To begin with, the actual commute itself is hectic and tiring. California freeways are notorious for being traffic-filled, overcrowded, bumper-to-bumper and crammed with drivers who have road rage.
Commuters have to plan what time they should leave and that can be tricky because traffic is unpredictable. What may take 25 minutes one day could take an hour and a half the next.
Waking up in the morning is usally difficult for any student, regardless of whether they live on-campus or commute. Oversleeping for a commuter is much more problamatic however. Running even just a few minutes late can set a commuter back a long way because he or she cannot just run to class. Rather, they have to drive in traffic.
Commuters have to put much forethought into their daily life.
Commuters heavily involved with activities or work on- or off- campus have to plan what to do for lunch, bring a change of clothes for their after-class activities, and figure out what they are going to do during breaks between classes.
Sleeping in one’s car is not uncommon or unusual, although some may think so.
Commuters do not have the luxury of walking back to their apartments and crawling back into bed like students who live on or near campus do.
Another challenge daily travelers face is making friends. With the way film and movies portray college university campuses and their student life, one would think that making friends and having a social life would be relatively easy to do. That is not the case, however.
Unless commuters spend a significant amount of time on campus, they do not have the opportunity to build relationships with classmates or attend social events.
Normally, commuters show up for class and then leave either to go home or work. They have a life outside school, whereas students who live on campus have a completely different life from the one they left behind at home.
From racing to get to class on time in hectic traffic, to debating whether or not to buy food on campus, trying to hide during a nap in the car from passers-by to avoid getting funny stares and trying to fit in are just a few of the challenges commuters face.
