It’s a typical Monday morning. The car is packed with clothes overflowing in plastic boxes alongside a comforter, sheets, an array of obscure posters, picture frames, textbooks and other necessities for the first semester of your college career. Taking the initial marathon’s-worth of trips up and down the staircase to load and unload the car is a pretty grueling process with the initial blood, sweat and tears — meanwhile commuters sit back and relax. 

Commuting and living on campus each have their own trials and tribulations. Commuting isn’t as bad as we all make it out to be, is it? Sure, there’s the lack of parking, the separation between campus living and home living and a possibility of graduating late due to unforeseen circumstances (which is possible for both sides), but living at home has unexpectedly pushed me to become independent.  

There’s no need for me to rely on people as much as I would if I was living on campus. I find myself noticing some students walking from class to class alone and others clinging to groups. Students rely a lot on what their friends are doing. Especially when it comes to registering for classes together. It might be done with the focus of friends in a class rather than interest in the class itself. 

A high school graduate anticipates college because of the freedoms gained being away from home. How can you attain that freedom if you don’t have a car on campus — the easy access of transportation? Walking can’t get you very far around the area, if you wanted to sightsee that is.

Furthermore, the worry of parking and using gas are justified in the end. Withdrawing cash can become annoying from week to week, but it’s a small price to pay when facing a larger college debt of room and board. Cost of commuting is less than the cost of living on campus in most cases. Coming from someone who has paid back some school loans, that matters.

Being a commuter gave me a better idea of the “real world” and what it takes to become successful. If I wasn’t a commuter, from my own experience, I probably wouldn’t be as serious about my career or the steps in getting to that point. 

Driving to and from Rowan can be troublesome at times and make you wonder why you even accepted the task in the first place. Just remember the best things that come out of driving to college and the years will fly by.

If I had to go back in time and choose between commuting or living on campus, I’d still choose commuting.

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