College Campus Tips for Commuters; Finding Your Fit in the College Community

Commuting to college can have its advantages. It can save money on living expenses and allow you to have a job further away from campus. However, it can leave you lacking a certain sense of camaraderie, compassion, or connection to your college, thus preventing you from benefiting from the educational environment in which you have invested.

There are several things you can do as a commuter student to ensure that you truly take advantage of everything provided to you.

1. Don't skip out on the orientation. The first few days on campus are when cohorts are formed. By the first day of class, everyone will have bonded with their new roommates or people they met at orientation events. The events may seem long and hot, especially in that old building that every campus seems to have and only uses on balmy days. However, great bonds can be formed when commiserating with those around you. These are the moments when lifetime friendships, or at least first-semester-lunch-buddies, are formed.

2. Get to know your resources. Most schools try to take into consideration that some portion of their student population may be commuting. Now, that is not always the same for professors, who seem to love to cancel class minutes before it is supposed to start via email, especially on the days you forgot to bring your laptop. Universities may provide you with a lounge for spending time during breaks equipped with everything you might need for total relaxation; couches, television, and some sort of kitchen-esque area for students ambitious enough to prepare their own food on their breaks. An adviser may even be provided for the sole purpose of supporting the needs of the commuter student. Odds are, they will always make time for you because they know you’ve put in extra effort, not just rolling out of bed and walking down the hill, to make time for them.

3. Get a campus job. There is no greater job, as a student, then a campus job. It will provide you extra income, always coordinate with your class/exam schedule and give you something to do during breaks on campus. What other job could possibly boast such benefits?

4. Avoid going home in between classes. A nap in your own bed may be tempting, but makes it less likely for you to want to return to campus a few hours later. You can rationalize reasons not to go back for that one last class of the day, it is only one class, you are already home, why waste more gas in your car? Don’t fall into the trap of going home. This is why you utilize the lounge or apply for that job. It is a lot easier to motivate yourself to make it to that evening lecture if you are already on campus.

5. Get involved on campus. You may not form indestructible bonds with roommates, but you can still form life long relationships by finding student organizations that interest you. The greatest thing about student organizations? You will be introduced to other people on the campus who share similar passions. From art history to human rights, professional to Greek societies, or activity to service based organizations, there is something for everyone. Faculty and staff advisers to the clubs can become your mentors, topics and guest speakers can lead you to new courses and friends formed in those organizations can help shape who you become as a college graduate. The greatest thing about getting involved on campus is that your leadership skills have an enormous opportunity to expand. Nothing else during your collegiate experience can help mold you into a leader better than involvement on campus.

Doing these things will help you find your niche on campus and get every penny’s worth of that ever-increasingly-expensive college education you have worked so hard to reach.