Commuting has its advantages

October 8, 2007 —

As a former on-campus resident, I lived a life of ignorant bliss, enjoying my posh little dorm/apartment with 'free' water and cable, and a 4.5 minute walk to class. Life was good. I never contemplated what laid beyond in that great unknown I called 'commuterland'.

The people who came in from the unknown - commuters - simply appeared in classrooms at the start of class and then quickly disappeared at the end of the day, never to be seen until their next class period. Sometimes, the commuters would camp out in the eating areas between classes because they (tragically) couldn't go back to their home in the one hour gap between classes. Little did I know that all of that would soon change.

Through a stroke of luck and circumstance, I was thrust into the unknown. Before I knew what happened, I had become...a commuter.

Actually, I've discovered that it's not that bad living the life of a commuter. In fact, there are some definite perks to living in my off campus housing. For example, my apartment complex is mostly full of working adults with families, not college students. This means that my neighbors keep a working schedule and don't walk around talking loudly at two in the morning. Nor do they put laundry detergent in the fountain.

And of course there's always something to be said for actually living in the town of Saginaw. I was never a fan of the fact that I had to drive off campus just to get to what should be our campus town - it seemed somewhat ironic. (The label of 'campus town' is also pretty debatable at this point, but I'll save that for another column.)

There are also perks with not living in housing run by the University. I personally found it annoying that I studied and worked all day at SVSU, just to go home and sleep there, too. It's gets a little old before too long.

But don't get me wrong - living on campus definitely has its upsides.

One thing I've noticed is that, in general, on-campus housing is cleaner. This is undoubtedly due to those lovely inspections called Health and Safeties. If you happened to read my rant about Health and Safeties last year, I'm sure you're familiar with my views on these unnecessary 'boot camp style' cleaning requirements. And I just have to say - my apartment may be a little dirtier than before, but I'm alive and well, despite the dust.

On a slightly less tongue-in-cheek note, it is much easier to get involved with campus events if you live on campus. Lots of little events are sponsored by the various community councils and are not specifically geared towards commuting students. Barbecues, ping pong tournaments, and various late-night pickup games are fairly regular occurrences the average commuter probably never gets to enjoy. Plus, it's just easier to create spontaneous get-togethers when you live doors away from your friends.

In the end, it really comes down to personal preference, and what you feel like getting out of the college experience. If you like living on campus, all the power to you. If you enjoy living the life of a commuter (like me) from a nearby apartment, then same to you. Just be aware that you have the power to explore the options.

I've had a chance to see the ups and downs of living on and off campus, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to explore both sides of the fence. Both sides gave me good memories. And to all of you who now have to set down the paper to go scrub your toilet for Health and Safeties, I have three words: "neener neener neener!"