BY DEVONNE EDORA
PRIDE STAFF WRITER
photo courtesy of caradvice.com
CSUSM is still recognized as a four year university; however it is still strongly considered a commuter school.
Our school’s on-campus housing at the University Village Apartments (UVA) is only able to accommodate a total of about 500-600 students, from a total student body of about 9,142. Obviously, a great number of students end up having to commute to campus almost everyday. Luckily, the campus is located in a wide variety of off-campus housing. Living in San Marcos isn’t always the best financial choice for a student. So, commuting to school is the way to go.
Others may believe that commuting is hard for a variety of reasons. I don’t think it takes anything away from being a college student. I got the chance to talk with two commuters and asked them what they thought about CSUSM’s commuter campus. I spoke with Lia Alvarez, a sophomore who commutes from Fallbrook Monday through Thursday. Alvarez’s schedule getting to school consists of waking up at 5 a.m. dropping off her daughter by 6, and trying to make the train that will transfer her to the Sprinter arriving at CSUSM. I asked her why she didn’t opt to drive to school. She replied, “I could drive [to CSUSM] and it would take me about an hour, but I don’t like driving.” Especially if her husband isn’t on deployment, Alvarez’s only option is to take the train/Sprinter route to get to school. Downsides to commuting are that she has to be on schedule with everything. “If you miss the 306, you have to wait a long time [for the next] to come and you’re going to be late,” Alvarez said. Students can take the Breeze bus, but it only comes twice every hour, compelling students to travel on foot to reach campus. While to some, this commute may seem tedious, a good amount of students do take the Sprinter to school. Alvarez said that she sees a “lot of students from Palomar and Mira Costa, around 10-15 students, and about 25 students from CSUSM.”
Jilliane Douglas, currently a junior, also commutes. She had previously lived on campus. Driving from San Diego twice a week, Douglas describes some of her experiences switching from San Marcos living to commuting. “[Commuting] makes me go to school more, because I have to make that conscious decision to go class. If I don’t go to my first class, it’s probably likely I won’t go to my next one.” Douglas also commented that commuting to school hasn’t affected her involvement on campus. In actuality, she believes that it has done the opposite. “Honestly, I’m more involved with the campus. I’m going to participate in the Triathlon through the Clarke, and I’m interested in joining a sorority,” Douglas said. “Living on campus—I took it for granted. I felt living on campus was the same feeling of being on campus.”
In comparison to other colleges, this amount of commuting to school appears to be going against what it is to “go to college.” Making the drive everyday and being far away from campus events can make it seem like you’re not getting the a complete “college experience.” Commuting instills a type of discipline that is taken for granted when students live on campus.
Interestingly, no one mentioned the perks of living off campus, such as not having to share a bedroom or bathroom with anyone, doing laundry without quarters, and no one telling you to be quiet after 10 p.m. Tedious or not, commuting can still work. Whoever says otherwise doesn’t dictate what is and should be your college experience.