Firstly, I would like to start by acknowledging the girl that commutes. Whether you’re driving 10 minutes or 45 minutes, commuting is not for the faint-hearted. Worrying about traffic, parking spots and if you should turn back around because you forgot your laptop charger is not part of the “average” college experience. Don’t get me started on planning your class schedule around rush hours and how long you are willing to hide out on campus for the next class. Commuting comes with its own unique set of obstacles that take time to get used to!
Commuting can be fun!
I’ve been driving 45 minutes to and from campus for the past three school years. Throughout the hundreds of hours spent behind the wheel, I’ve made it a priority to make sure I find a routine that makes commuting fun.
Step 1: Change your mindset
When I would tell people that I’m a commuter, the initial reaction from on-campus students is often a pitiful “aww that must suck”. At first, I would be like, “yeah it does,” and go on a five-minute rant about how bad traffic is. Maybe you relate to this, but in a way, I felt inferior to my on-campus classmates because I live at home. As if living on campus made you somehow a more qualified college student!
I hope you haven’t had this experience, but if you have, I want to encourage you to change your mindset about commuting. Maybe you feel resentment for living at home. Maybe you’re struggling with FOMO when you hear your friends talk about what they did with their roommates the night before. Maybe you had no control over your housing situation. Maybe you feel embarrassed to tell others that you simply didn’t feel prepared to live away from your family yet. Whatever your situation is, your commuting status doesn’t have to define you.
I was very resentful about my commuter status during my fall semester of freshmen year. By the spring, I turned my complaints, like “I can’t believe I have to wake up at 6:30 to drive to class” and started practicing thankfulness, like “I am blessed to be able to drive myself to get my education.” I also focused on the fact that I’m saving a lot of money by living at home. Three falls later, I am in a better mindset about commuting. I feel much better about it now than I did before.
I acknowledge that the commuter struggle is real, but I personally found that I felt more miserable when I only focused on the negatives.
Step 2: Learn to time block
I used to just eyeball a good time to leave my house to be in class on time. I can’t tell you the number of times that I was running to class because I spent 15 minutes finding parking or because the campus shuttle took the longest route possible to get to my stop. I then played with the idea of arriving to campus a few hours before my first class to do work. The only problem was that the idea sounded good for an ambitious Jasmine at 8pm the night before, and ridiculous for the 5am Jasmine.
I found that arriving 30-60 minutes before class worked best for me. It gave me enough of a grace period to get gas, food, parking, or account for potential traffic jams.
Time blocking your morning commute, whether that be on Google Calendar or in your planner, is a great way to visualize the time you have between waking up and going to class.
Step 3: Feed your mind
There is nothing worse than being bored out of your mind on a Monday morning. No matter how long your commute is, you can always use something intriguing to listen to. I couldn’t believe the Audible sponsorships I’d see my favorite YouTubers make, but I gave it a chance. Now I have been devouring audiobooks! 12–14-hour books? Done in a week.
These are my favorite listens from this year:
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
- Violeta by Isabel Allende
These are the next on my listening list (maybe you can listen with me!):
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchet
- La ridícula idea de no volver a verte by Rosa Montero
- The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
I hope you find more ways to elevate your morning commute. Make this mundane, sometimes boring task something you can find joy in! Drive safe besties!!