Commuting to campus can feel like a bit of a drag. Personally, the combination of rush hour traffic, rising gas prices and distant parking lots is enough to make me scream in my car a few times. Take a journey with me as I navigate through the personal obstacles I experience as a commuting Theatre, Film, and Digital Production (TFDP) major.
Traffic is a given in our area. My classes tend to start around 9 a.m., meaning that I need to be out the door by 8 a.m. — and that’s putting it nicely. Honestly, 7:30 a.m. is the smarter option. Sometimes, those early morning classes and commutes are enough to make skipping a lecture appealing, but the A+ Ravenclaw side of me definitely won’t let that happen. Regardless of the traffic, I do my best to be at lectures on time and ready to go. I can’t say that I have perfect attendance, but I always try my best to show up.
Rising gas prices don’t make commuting to campus any easier. It’s almost like the money saved from not living in dorms and campus apartments goes towards gas instead. For local students in Riverside, it makes more sense to commute. But, for those who have moved away from home to be here, living further away from campus is a tricky and costly experience. There have been days when I’ve driven to campus only to find out that a lecture was canceled at the last minute, making the drive a bit pointless, especially if that was my only class of the day.
Finding parking can be its own traffic jam. When parking in Gold Lots 30 or 50, not only is finding a spot essential, but the walk to campus can take a good 10 minutes. I’m sure that part isn’t a biggie for those who have scooters or bikes. Thankfully, I have a Blue Lot parking pass this quarter, so no qualms necessarily there. However, there have been days where I need to try different Blue Lots before a spot is found. Sometimes, the delay in parking in Blue lots makes me wonder why the specific parking spot colors Blue, Red, Gold and Orange were selected, but I digress.
Another commuter hurdle that I have to personally jump through is FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out. Even if I have a class that doesn’t require attendance — or happens to be Satisfactory/No Credit (S/NC) — I can’t justify missing it unless it is a life emergency. Some students might love missing classes, but as a TFDP major, most of my classes involve perfecting my craft as an actor and creator. I love learning about new acting methods and processes from our esteemed TFDP faculty. Sure, I could get the parts I missed from a peer, but I’ll never get to experience those valuable lecture moments again. I’ll get off my soapbox, but needless to say, fear of missing out definitely motivates me to commute to campus, even if I’m feeling a bit under the weather or a tad tired from a late shift the night before.
The “otherness” feeling of being a commuter versus a resident is definitely one that I have. Once I arrive on campus, staying as late as possible helps for a bit, especially the longer that I stay. Whether it’s catching a club meeting, eating at the Highlander Union Building (HUB) or visiting the tables near the Highlander Bell Tower, simply existing on our lovely campus is a reality that I never want to take for granted. The less sentimental and more practical might save their time for other matters. Still, something about soaking in the UCR atmosphere and appreciating the ground that we are on is something I consciously do, even if it’s simply walking from Rivera Library to the HUB or from the Arts Building to Ivan’s across the street.
As a former commuter who now lives on campus, I no longer have to deal with long traffic, finding parking or planned drives home. Now, I have dorm rent, a meal plan, residential parking and brisk walks to campus. It’s difficult to say which reality feels more like I’m immersed in college life when sometimes the hustle and bustle of commuting to school feels just as much like college life to me as using my key card to enter my Glen Mor apartment. I think it’s okay not to know which feels more collegiate but instead to appreciate each moment as it comes. It’s not more. It’s not less. It just is, and each one of your college memories is beautiful.
