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Students compare living on campus to commuting

Marlon Pitter

Connector Editor

Amid the infinite amount of decisions students make in their college careers, one of the most important ones a student can make is whether to live on campus or commute to school.

For many, finances are the top reason for choosing to commute, while having a complete college experience and the ease of getting to class are why some have initially chosen to live on campus.

Some students usually have their fill of living on campus after about two years, but Rachel Marsh, a first-year student, switched to commuting after one semester.

Marsh, who lived in Fox Hall last semester and now resides in Billerica, attributed her decision to not liking “being at school 24/7.”

“I like being able to escape the atmosphere of being at school in general,” she says.

Like Marsh, Maria Russo, another first-year student, switched to commuting after one semester as well. Her collegiate lifestyle change, though, was not as voluntary as Marsh’s was.

Russo lived on the 13th floor of Fox Hall on East Campus in the fall, but she commutes from Chelmsford this semester due to financial constraints. “Money was a big factor. I wouldn’t be able to pay [for school], and I want to save money,” she said.

Living on campus was beneficial for most, if not all students while it lasted. Marsh and Ina Shkurti, a former Fox Hall resident, said waking up closer to when their first classes began was a perk of being a resident.

Meanwhile, Russo cited added freedom as a benefit of living on campus in her one semester as a residential student. “I could do whatever I wanted last semester, classes permitting,” said Russo, “and, even if it were the littlest thing, I didn’t have to tell my parents.”

Among the many explicit and implicit benefits of living on campus, there were many dislikes and disadvantages to be found as well, with the food served in the dining halls being the most common nuisance.

Stan Camin and Duncan Allen, both sophomores currently residing on South Campus, agree that the food and Internet were not satisfactory, but Shkurti had more to say about the food.

“[All of the food] at UMass Lowell is supplied by Aramark, which not only has a reputation of mistreating employees, but also does not provide quality food,” says Shkurti. “The dining hall at Fox also has very limited vegetarian options, and since freshmen are forced into having a meal plan, I had to deal with eating the dining hall food. It was hard.”

With a semester of commuting behind them, students are not finding it hard to identify the benefits of their new lifestyles. Marsh and Russo say they enjoy having their own room and food to go home to.

At the same time, Catherine Kinsella, a first-year student who has commuted throughout the entire academic year, says she enjoys being able to go home, see her friends and be around her family, who are a huge support system for her.

Advantages aside, several adversities plague commuters’ daily lives, forcing students to make adjustments that would not be necessary as residential students.

As freshmen commuters, both Kinsella and Marsh say the parking location designated for first-year students that commute to school is not the most desirable or efficient.

“I drive to school [from Salem, Mass.], park at the [Ayotte Garage] and take a shuttle to East and then a bus to [South], which adds an additional 30 minutes [to my 30- to 45-minute commute,]” says Kinsella. “There are plenty of spaces in the new garage on South, so I don’t see why we can’t park there.”

Skhurti’s daily commute from Boston takes an even larger toll on her due to her reliance on public transportation. Her commute, she says, is about two hours long, requiring two trains and a bus ride but only occurs every Tuesday and Thursday.

Students like Russo, who are not yet self-sufficient in transporting themselves to and from campus, can find themselves on campus much longer than necessary on most days.

“My brother drives himself and me to school, and since we aren’t on the same schedule, between work and classes, I usually don’t leave until 5 [p.m.] on most days and 7 [p.m.] on Fridays,” said Russo. “Also, his car is inches from dying, and I don’t have my license yet.”

Long days at school can be a pain, but it is the price of parking decals that hit residents and commuters alike where it hurts most, as full-year parking decals cost approximately $350 each.

“I think parking is way overpriced here. I only paid $200 for a parking spot in high school, and the town next to mine paid $50 a year,” said Camin, who will be commuting from Andover next year with fellow Concordia resident Frederick Duquet.

Looking ahead, students who plan to commute say they believe it will not worsen their college experience. Moreover, those who have switched to commuting say it has not had a negative effect on their experiences as well.

“[Commuting] probably won’t affect my college experience. I have a nice set of friends, and I have learned to live on my own,” said Allen, who will look to commute from an apartment in Lowell next semester.

By taking classes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays this semester, Shkurti’s decision to commute has opened new doors for her near her home in Boston.

“My college experience has certainly not been a common one, but I think that it was what I needed this past semester,” she says. “I like being in Boston, and having classes only twice a week has given me the opportunity to intern at a start-up in Cambridge, where I’ve been honing my professional skills. It’s been a great learning experience.”

Kinsella says she would like to live on campus in the future, but has no regrets about her initial decision to commute.

“I have two hours of driving a day that I can use for doing homework,” says Kinsella, “but no matter how hard commuting is, I still love being at UMass Lowell.”

Marlon Pitter is a former editor-in-chief of the UMass Lowell Connector. Hailing from Hartford, Conn., he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English with a concentration in journalism and professional writing and a digital media minor in 2017. Follow him on Twitter @marlonpresents.