It’s tough to make it through college. Between all the classes, homework, extracurriculars, work, and general stresses of life, we’re lucky to make it out alive. We all know that UIC is a big commuter school so we have to think of those who bravely commute from far distances to meet this daily challenge of attending school. Donnatella Smith, a senior here at UIC, is one of these courageous commuters, traveling over an hour each day from the Northwest suburbs to get to school.
Donnatella explains that she has commuted to and from school for her entire UIC career. Talk about exhausting! She explains that although this semester her first class doesn’t start until 11, she is awake by 8:30am in order to drive herself to the train station to catch the 9:08am train. The train ride lasts about an hour and ten minutes, but then she has to wait for a bus to take her to campus which can sometimes take up to an additional 20 minutes! This semester, to save the number of days she commutes, Donnatella has scheduled her classes to be on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday which means her days in class are incredibly long. Once out of her final class for the day, she hurries to take a bus back to the train station to catch the train back to the suburbs where she then must run home to change and head off to work.
When I asked her how she manages such a long commute with a long day in school and then head to work she simply responded that it’s what she has to do. She explained that it is quite draining but that she is used to it for the most part. The long commute allows her to get some homework and extra studying done. Donnatella is a psychology major and will be graduating this year, but that doesn’t mean her days of commuting are over. She plans on attending grad school at UIC next year for education to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher. That means she will continue her long commute in order to accomplish her dreams.
So way to go Donnatella, you’re one heck of a student to put up with all that commuting as are the rest of UIC’s commuting students. I know I will not be complaining as much the next time I wake up to head to school!