One may say that commuter students have it easy due to lower tuition costs, but that is far from the truth.

“It’s hard being a commuter student because of numerous reasons,” Makenna Harris, senior, said. “I don’t think school officials really understand the life of a commuter student, but it’s hard to put everything into terms unless you experience it yourself.”

According to Harris, one of the main reasons is due to the fact that many commuter students don’t play sports.

“When you don’t play sports, you aren’t in those friend groups, so that excludes you from other activities,” Harris said. “I’ve had friends in the past that act like I am a stranger when they’re around their teammates.”

That’s not all that makes being a commuter student difficult. Many commuter students live further than 20 minutes away from campus, thus making travel a burden.

“I think the hardest part associated with being a commuter student is traveling so far to school,” Kasey Allen, junior, said. “When you have to travel more than 20 minutes to school, you are more likely to be late to classes because of unforeseen issues.”

But, students have more concerns than this. According to Allen and Harris, meal plans are too expensive for commuter students, and changes are needed.

“I didn’t purchase a meal plan because I wouldn’t be able to get my money’s worth.” Harris said. “I am not going to pay a large expense for the food offered here when I can go elsewhere to get something better and cheaper.”

If you’re a commuter student and have a concern, feel free to reach out to the Office of Student Life or, have more to say on the subject, reach out to @ChanticleerNews via social media.