By Cadence Redmond
Commuter students make up roughly half of the University of Maryland student body, according to U.S. News & World Report.
These students often drive themselves to campus, and some take buses. They live varying distances from campus, with some living more than an hour away.
Most often, the students have chosen to commute for cost efficiency. If they drive, they can eliminate room and board costs and replace them with the cost of transportation, though even the cost of gas is rising.
Four commuters said it’s more difficult to connect and truly live the college experience when unable to attend evening events.
“Sometimes it’s hard to stay on campus for things, and I share a car with my mom, so it’s not always easy to stay long,” said Elise Hamma, junior global foreign policy major.
Most events, like Terps After Dark, evening sporting events, club meetings and socials for sororities and fraternities, happen in the evening or at night.
Two senior commuter students who used to live on campus in previous years said it can be a little difficult to adjust to traveling back and forth.
Two commuter friends, Hamma and junior PPE student Shealyn Stone, met through a commuter event called Good Morning Commuters, where commuters and off-campus students can grab breakfast and meet other commuter students, in the Adele H. Stamp Student Union.
Hamma lives 45 minutes away in Crofton, Maryland. She said she enjoys living at home and shares a car with her mom.
“When I am able to stay on campus in the evening to do stuff, it’s even more special,” Hamma said.
She has found community with one of the on-campus ministries, Kharis Campus Ministry, which holds Bible studies that she participates in.
One student said that she commonly bonds with her peers through study sessions between classes.
Stone, a transfer student, lives about an hour away from campus and said she has struggled to truly connect with the community and find time to attend events. Despite challenges during weekdays, Stone said she has been able to attend football games and tailgates on weekends.
According to the four students, the challenges of making connections with others remain the biggest downside of commuting.
Matthew Devine, an MBA student has been considering a way to fix this problem, he has been working on a connection solution similar to TerpLink.
“I feel like it’s very hard to be involved because there’s so many clubs I want to join,” Stone said, “Like I wanted to do club field hockey. I want to do the club where they raise the service animals, but it’s hard.”
Featured Image: Stadium Drive Garage – one of the available commuter lots for UMD students. Photo by Charlotte Florin.