Life as a college commuter

While I am a college student at North Central, I wouldn't say I get the entire "college experience". This is due solely to the fact that I don't live on campus because I commute to school. Being a commuter has it's goods and bads. I enjoy that I still live at home and have the opportunity to see my family everyday. My Mom does a lot for me and I am very appreciative of what she does. Some of the many things she does include; making dinner for the entire family, does my laundry as well as the rest of the family's, makes sure everyone is where they're supposed to be with all of us having such busy schedules. It is very nice at times still being surrounded by a strong support system.

However, going back to the main focus of this blog, being a commuter is tough at times as well. I haven't met many people that I actually like and connect with. The exception to this being my friend John Riva, who is also in this class. We got food the one day and got to talking and it turns out we have many similaritites. John has made me realize it just takes time to meet the right people. While it is definitely harder to meet and interact with people on campus, I have been making an active effort to make friends and connections. 

Living on campus and living off campus carry two completely different experiences. Living on campus you get to experience freedom and you get to experience what the real world is like. You finally realize that you are on your own in the real world and that living in your own place without parental guidance is soon going to be your new norm. However, by living off campus and living at home, I don't experience that. I experience what I've experienced my entire life with the exception that since I am an adult and they treat me like one, I have a similar experience to students that live on campus in the sense that I can still do whatever I want but with a support system right next to me all along the way. So far this has proven beneficial and I like how it is, but only time will tell how I feel about it in the future.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Distracted driving...

Image
  Distracted driving has become a major issue over the past 15 years. Since the introduction of cell phones and interactive touchscreens our roads have never been more occupied with distracted drivers.   Taking your focus off of the road for that long is dangerous. Any type of commotion that deters the driver or gets their temper soaring may result in an accident. People rely heavily on their phone or navigation system to tell them how to get from one location to another. This often requires the drivers’ eyes to focus on the navigation screen to ‘follow” the line shown on the screen. Obviously, if their eyes are looking at their phone or navigation screen, they are not looking at the road. Not only for the use of directions, phones can distract drivers by way of alerting them to a text or a posting while they are driving. The human mind is programmed to want to immediately read and respond to texts. When doing so, the driver is not focused on driving or their surroundings. The...
Read more

The Icebox

Image
 Back in my favorite year 2020 (that's sarcasm) one of my best friends had gotten a job in the summer at this ice factory called 'Home City Ice'. He had worked there for 2 weeks and kept telling me how fun it is and how the pay was pretty good at the time. I didn't have a job then and I wanted some money for the summer, so then he convinced me to apply. While this wasn't my first job, I still didn't have much "work experience". My first job was working as a "lifeguard" at a trampoline park in Downers Grove. I was only there for 2 months before the COVID-19 pandemic took over and I couldn't work. I had a few months off from working and then on July 14th I went in for an interview at Home City Ice and they hired me on the spot.  Working this job was a completely different environment than what I was used to. I was working in a factory where things could go very wrong very quickly. When they hired me, I had to go through extensive training t...
Read more

Thanksgiving Traditions

Image
Thanksgiving is a very special holiday in my family, and we have many traditions that we look forward to each year. One of our favorite traditions is setting the table for Thanksgiving dinner. We always use our best china, silverware, and linens, and we set the table with a beautiful centerpiece of flowers and candles. We also love to decorate the house with autumn-themed decorations, such as wreaths and pumpkins. Another important tradition in my family is the Thanksgiving feast itself. We always have a delicious spread of traditional dishes, such as roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy. We also like to try out new recipes and add our own twists to classic dishes. After the meal, we always have a big slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert. This is what my Thanksgiving dinner table looks like In addition to the food and decorations, we also take the time to express our gratitude on Thanksgiving. Each year, we go around the table and share what we are most th...
Read more