The transition from high school to college is one of the most difficult changes you can make in your life. To go from a city or town you have lived in for perhaps your entire life to unfamiliar territory is tough. You are forced to adapt to a new environment, meet new friends, figure out what you want to do with your life and more. However, for many transportations is one of the most difficult challenges. Many freshmen rely primarily on their cars to get around. Likewise, many students commute back home during breaks but live too far away to bring a car to campus as transporting it to and from would be a hassle. Furthermore, parking on campus is, to put it mildly, awful.
Rather than fighting for a parking spot every time you want to drive, or worse, walking half an hour each way to your car’s parking spot, leaving your car at home is frequently the most logical option. It saves you time, gas money, and let’s be real when you look at the erratic driving on Tallahassee streets — your life. For those who have become accustomed to driving themselves everywhere, transitioning to relying on alternative modes of transportation can prove difficult. However, it is one of the best decisions you can make during your college career. There are many ways you can get around Tallahassee, and they’re all fairly easy to do.
The first way to survive without a car in Tallahassee is using what the Man gave you: your feet. If you didn’t know already, you’re going to do a lot of walking in college. Walking to sometimes multiple classes a day that are at different times across campus from one another. Moreover, if you live off campus, there’s a good chance you live nearby since most student housing is in the near vicinity. As a result, there’s a good chance you won’t even need a car to commute to campus. You may be a five-minute walk away. Walking is one of the most common ways to get around Tallahassee for students and it’s not very difficult because FSU is in a college town. Meaning, for the most part everywhere you need to get (what, Pots? who said that?) is most likely no more than 15 minutes of walking give or take. Truly, every relevant or necessary place you want to visit is probably a brisk walk away from campus. That’s what makes living in a college town so convenient.
Furthermore, bikes and scooters are extremely common modes of transportation all through campus and Tallahassee, so don’t be embarrassed to rule that out as an option. It keeps you active and motivated and it’s also absolutely free. Not to mention, it’s great for the environment.
If your legs have given out, you’re too lazy, or the location you need to get to is just too far away for a hot girl walk, you have other options. Tallahassee has a Star Metro bus that runs across the Tallahassee metropolitan region. Even better, it’s absolutely free for Florida State students. Other buses available to students and staff include the Seminole Express and Night Nole. If getting home for the holidays is a problem, Red Coach is a popular bus service for long travels across Florida with a 10 percent student discount allowing students to be picked up directly on campus.
If it feels like the end of the world not having a car with you, know it’s not. You aren’t missing out on much; most students walk everywhere too, and it isn’t just you. Everything you could possibly need is probably either on campus or in its vicinity. It’s only four years, so make the best of it.
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