Not moving because of university

At some point you have to become independent, live alone and start to understand why your parents always find something that has to be done in the house. For some people this happens when they’re still students and decide to go study in a far-off university, for others it’s still a far event. Some people may live in the same city, but make different choices. There are people that prefer to find an accommodation closer to the university where they study; while others may decide to become a commuter, like me. There may be many different reasons for doing so.

I remember the “me” of last year, searching through lots of university degrees and not finding a single one that felt right, and then “digital management” happened. It was far and pricey, but it was the only one I liked, so I sent my application. I had no expectation and if I had been accepted that would’ve been a problem for later. And then I was accepted.

A lot of questions started spinning in my head concerning my next steps. And then all the chaos stopped, I was sure that I wasn’t going to move. Moving would’ve meant, besides leaving my house and its comfort, leaving my dance classes and my dance group. Not I was definitely not going to move. For me the sole thought of not taking dance classes was suffocating, just imagining made me feel empty and anxious. Besides that, compared to others I don’t live “that far” from the campus, it was totally feasible.

In my case, commuting definitely had more pros than cons, even without a driver’s licence.

Not staying on campus has many limitations: for example in personal relationships. Students that live on campus have a lot more opportunities to know each other and create lifelong friendships, while commuting, in particular without a driver’s licence, can hinder this experience.

Also, commuting can be extremely time consuming, imagine waking up at 6.00 am to take a train and then again a bus just to arrive on campus at 9.00. And then doing the same on the way back. It’s about 3 hours of travel alone. Well, most of the time I sleep, but even though I do, when arriving home I always feel exhausted

Travelling can be really tiring, and this can lead to an unbalanced life ( in particular if you’re a procrastinator), from a studying point of view. While on campus, after classes, people can relax and take time for themselves and after that start studying. On the other hand, time spent travelling can hardly be considered leisure time as after you feel more tired than you were before. So, when students on campus start studying or reviewing the day’s classes you have just arrived home in need of a break.

Even so, for me taking my dance classes was and is more important than all of these con’s.

My point is: commuting is not easy (but at least easier than I expected). You are close to your family, in a familiar place, with the food you ate growing up, with your old friends… but, at the same time, you lose part of your time travelling back and forth, loose some of the opportunities you would’ve have to know new people better, as well as some of the opportunities the university offers (maybe it’s something that happens late and if you partecipate you’ll be home at 10 pm, or it’s in a day when you don’t have class and travelling 3 hours for an hour event is not worth it for you.)

All these types of choices are shaped based on a person’s lives, experiences and priorities. It all depends on value you give to certain things.