Commuter students may have the freedom of living away from campus, but just how beneficial is this freedom to them when trying to balance time on campus as well?
Senior music business major Caitlin Kolson has been a commuter at LSC for three years now and it seems to have its ups and downs.
This is Kolson’s final year at LSC, and her third year as a commuter student. Overall, she says that she likes commuting most of the time, with a few exceptions.
“What’s really frustrating is when it’s winter-time and they haven’t plowed the hill,” she said.
She also said that there really isn’t enough parking at school.
“After they built the new building you’d think they would have added more parking since there’s more commuters because it’s cheaper to commute,” she said.
There are also benefits to being a commuter here at LSC. One of these benefits is the “commuter days” provided by the Campus Activities Board where anyone in the school can do activities and get things for free.
“Commuter days are great, you get to hang out and get free stuff. It’s really cool,” Kolson said.
To stay involved, Kolson is a part of many different groups and activities that take place on campus. She is an active member of the Twilight Players, helps put on concerts for her music business major, and hangs out with her friends in the residence halls. She also goes to most of the CAB-sponsored events.
“CAB events and activities are a great way to stay involved on campus and most are free,” she said.
Commuters from other Vermont State Colleges seem to enjoy many of the same benefits as LSC commuters. Johnson State College freshman and music education major Joshua Clinger is a commuter, and says that he doesn’t mind commuting to school.
“It’s a lot cheaper for me to commute and stay at home,” he said.
He also said that JSC has meetings for commuters and students who stay on campus to get to know one another. These meetings are similar to the commuter days at LSC. In addition, Clinger said that most everything is free, like concerts and plays, which is similar to LSC’s CAB-sponsored events.