Commuters live a different life
Kristie Dunchus
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: News
Drive to campus. Find a parking spot. Walk to class. Walk back your car. Drive back home. Repeat.
This is the typical day-to-day schedule for students who commute to college.
For resident students, it's rolling out of bed, getting ready, briefly seeing their roommate or suitemate and walking out the door to class.
But for most commuter students, they wake up in the morning in their own room and bed, get ready for school in their own bathroom and as they walk out the door they pass by their roommates as well. But their roommates aren't their fellow college stu¬dents, they're their parents.
Commuter students make up 50 percent of the student body at Castleton State Col¬lege. There are those who live at home with their parents, those who live in off-campus apartments, parents with chil¬dren at home and full-time workers
Some commuters complain that they're missing out on that the full college experi¬ence when it comes to making friends and socializing outside the classroom.
"First-year students should definitely live on campus. I know a couple people who commuted from home and did not get to know as many people as I did," said Shannon Gallagher who lived in the res¬idence halls her first two years at Castleton.
Gallagher considers herself a social butterfly and believes she would not have made as many friends if she had lived at home. So even if that means paying the extra money for room and board, she says it's worth it.
"I would never live at home. I think it's stupid to commute because you're missing out on your college experience," she said.
Some commuter students agree with Gallagher.
Sophomore Alyssa Alberico has commuted for two years and agrees it is difficult to make friends when your only interaction with other students is in the classroom.
"I just drive here and then just go home. You don't get to meet anybody. You're just in and you're out," Alberico said.
But Alberico said there are drawbacks to living on cam¬pus too. She said if she were to live on campus, her academ¬ics would suffer and she would most likely fail.
This is the typical day-to-day schedule for students who commute to college.
For resident students, it's rolling out of bed, getting ready, briefly seeing their roommate or suitemate and walking out the door to class.
But for most commuter students, they wake up in the morning in their own room and bed, get ready for school in their own bathroom and as they walk out the door they pass by their roommates as well. But their roommates aren't their fellow college stu¬dents, they're their parents.
Commuter students make up 50 percent of the student body at Castleton State Col¬lege. There are those who live at home with their parents, those who live in off-campus apartments, parents with chil¬dren at home and full-time workers
Some commuters complain that they're missing out on that the full college experi¬ence when it comes to making friends and socializing outside the classroom.
"First-year students should definitely live on campus. I know a couple people who commuted from home and did not get to know as many people as I did," said Shannon Gallagher who lived in the res¬idence halls her first two years at Castleton.
Gallagher considers herself a social butterfly and believes she would not have made as many friends if she had lived at home. So even if that means paying the extra money for room and board, she says it's worth it.
"I would never live at home. I think it's stupid to commute because you're missing out on your college experience," she said.
Some commuter students agree with Gallagher.
Sophomore Alyssa Alberico has commuted for two years and agrees it is difficult to make friends when your only interaction with other students is in the classroom.
"I just drive here and then just go home. You don't get to meet anybody. You're just in and you're out," Alberico said.
But Alberico said there are drawbacks to living on cam¬pus too. She said if she were to live on campus, her academ¬ics would suffer and she would most likely fail.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Kelly Cray
posted 2/06/10 @ 3:20 AM EST
I think it's definately about what you make of it. I was a commuter when i transfered into Castleton for several reasons. Having previously lived on campus at a school in PA I guess I got to experiance both worlds. (Continued…)
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