Posts tagged with commuting.
The long commute
Natali T's morning begins at 5:45 a.m. Natali lives with her parents. Every morning she commutes from the fringes of the Greater Toronto Area to U of T's St. George campus, in the middle of downtown Toronto.
"I'm in the car with my dad at 6:20. We drive for 40 minutes. He takes me to the bus, which I ride for 20 minutes to the subway station. Then I take the train for 30 minutes. I'm at school by 8."
My morning commute is different. It begins at 10 a.m., minutes before my first class. I get dressed, maybe brush my teeth and embark on a leisurely walk to the lecture hall, a hundred meters away. Natali faces an entire set of challenges I don't. She has to be incredibly disciplined with her time because her commute is so long.
"When I get home the day's pretty much done. By the time I eat and get comfortable, I'm ready to go to bed. "
Participating in campus life is difficult when you live so far away. She wants to attend parties but can't because getting home at night is impossible. She finds it hard to meet friends, especially in her lectures. Most have over 300 hundred students and she never sits next to the same person twice.
"My only opportunity to meet people is in my tutorials. I don't meet anyone in my classes. I did meet one girl; she's a commuter, too, so we share that."
In contrast, my life in residence is easy. While I have to organize my time, I can be spontaneous. I can work in the library until the wee hours, without having to worry how I'll get home. I'm never excluded from campus life because I live in the middle of it. For me, everything is convenient.
Yet there are a number of reasons why living at home is a good idea. There's a tremendous economic benefit. Residence typically costs upwards of $10,000. Over four years, that's a huge savings. Then there's the fact that some residences aren't that nice to live in. You're bound to live with or next to at least one weirdo. And the interiors are rather spartan. My friend characterizes his dorm at McGill as "bleak" and "monotone". And, of course, residence food is typically not as good as the stuff you can get at home.
Natali hasn't decided whether she'll move out next year. She finds commuting easier now then she did last semester. Shockingly (her word), she's adjusted.
If you're considering commuting next year, take the advice of Shishir Mehta, a fourth-year at U of T. Mehta has never lived in residence. Through his position as Head of Non-Residents at Trinity College, he advises students like him on how to adjust to life off-campus.
As Mehta puts it, "There's no reason why you can't have the same experience [as a resident student]. You just need to make a conscious effort. Make friends who live in residence during Frosh Week. Take advantage of what's available to you and you'll be fine."
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BRYCE WARNES
