Nina Hernandez
Connector Contributor
UMass Lowell is home to thousands of undergraduate commuter students. According to the 2023-2024 UMass Lowell Common Data Set, 7,400 students live off campus and commute. That is 61% of the total undergraduate student population. However, commuter students make up a small amount when it comes to student involvement in on-campus events and activities. When asked about campus involvement, Elias Concepcion, a senior commuter, said, “For my first couple of years, I was on campus, finished school, and then left.” Norbelys Espinal, a student and the Commuter Ambassador at UMass Lowell’s Student Life and Involvement, shared a similar experience: “I didn’t feel any connection to the school. I followed the same routine every day: coming to school, go back home, study and work.”
According to the U.S. News, the major reasons for commuting to campus are reducing costs, family and job responsibilities and wanting to stay close to home. Many commuters feel detached from campus life, as they are on campus much less than students who choose to dorm. Ayden Thanh-Rothrock, a junior commuter, chose to dorm his first year for this reason: “Dorming had the appeal of the entire, or most of the ‘college experience’.” This ‘college experience’ is something Espinal wanted, as well, saying, “I needed that part of what I seen in movies-community involvement or being a part of a college, and I didn’t feel like I was getting that.”
So, how can commuter students overcome these trends of isolation and engage with campus life? For commuter students, there are two big factors to consider when deciding if an on-campus event is worth going to: time and personal benefit. Many commuter students must decide if an event fits their schedule or is worth coming back to campus. Concepcion says, “If an event fits into my schedule, I will 100% go, especially if I’m already on campus.”
Another deciding factor is the personal appeal of the event, either towards students’ majors or their own interests. Espinal says an event ideal for her is “something creative, something I can engage with or if it’s very educational, like something that can help me with my career plans.” Thanh-Rothrock also cares a lot about personal connection to on-campus activities: “It’s about how much I like it. When I was doing intramurals last year, those were pretty important to me, so I wanted to go to all of those.”
If there was one thing Concepcion would like to change about on-campus events and activities, it would be the networking: “I feel like every time I find out about an event, or hear someone talk about it, then it’s happening in a week. It’s hard to shift my schedule around it. Having that time in advance, I can look at this event three weeks out and I can plan to go to the event.” Espinal hopes this unawareness can change: “We’re trying to do a lot of research on how to improve it. Hopefully in the next college year, we can get more students to be more aware of these resources.”
Many students are unaware of the various resources available to commuters at UMass Lowell. “Students can always log into our commuter website, and there you can find a lot of resources. We even have a lot of opportunities for commuter students that have financial need,” Espinal says.
On being asked about advice for incoming commuters, Concepcion, Espinal and Thanh-Rothrock share a common thread: get involved. “Try to get a job on campus if you can. I feel like getting a job on campus facilitates a lot of engagement and connection you’re gonna get throughout your college experience,” said Espinal. Thanh-Rothrock said, “I think joining a club would be most ideal because I have a lot of friends in clubs and there, you get to meet people.” Concepcion had a specific club in mind when answering this question: “My friend was talking about creating a commuter club, and I think that would have been great my freshman year.”
Espinal is the president of the newly founded Commuter Club at UMass Lowell. “Our goal for the Commuter Club is not just to create events for students to engage but also provide resources to help others-to be not just a community but create a family, in that sense.” says Espinal. A club for commuters could bridge the gap between missing the ‘college experience’- a place to foster new friendships and get involved in an on-campus. The Commuter Club is still in its infancy; Espinal says, “We’re planning on doing a lot of outreach, a lot of tabling and a combination of having general meetings through zoom. So that commuters can join and be part of a club.”
Being a commuter student should not deprive young adults of the ‘college experience’ they miss by living off campus. “Know that being a commuter isn’t a bad thing,” Espinal says as a final string of advice to commuters. Utilizing resources and getting involved in campus events and activities, like the Commuter Club, can alleviate commuters of those feelings of displacement and loneliness.
