Being a commuter is like being blessed and cursed at the same time, only it’s 80% cursed and 20% of the time a blessing. Missed trains, flooding in Hoboken Terminal, inconvenient club timings, and so forth — commuting gets pretty damn annoying back and forth, in my opinion.
Since this is an opinion-based article, I’m going to rant as much as I can physically fit into this about what I like and hate about commuting by train to determine if Stevens really is commuter-friendly.
Let’s begin with the positive: accessibility. At least for me, my train station is extremely close by and, if need be, I can just walk there (though that in itself takes more than 30 minutes). It is very convenient and accessible for me, which also allows a lot of time for me to get ready in the morning. I struggle to wake up early, so having a train station very close to me is a nice perk of commuting.
The train ride is very scenic, and you get to experience views you normally would not see if you were dorming. For people who take longer train rides, you also get the luxury of working on assignments on the train before you actually get to campus. Additionally, they are far less prone to being stuck in traffic than if you were using a car to drive to campus, especially early in the morning.
Something else that’s very nice about commuting is that you don’t need to pay for housing (at least for freshman year). Not having to manage the stress of moving out was a nice perk, because I know I would’ve been scrambling to have everything I own shoved into my dorm. Bringing food from home also saves me a lot of money compared to having to rely solely on a meal plan, which is another added bonus.
Now, for the cons. To start off strong, we have missing trains. Although this isn’t as bad a detriment as I initially thought, it’s still quite severe if you’re chronically prone to oversleeping. Trust me, that feeling when you miss your initial train and see that the next train arrives when classes start is a horrible feeling. It’s even worse for people who live all the way in Long Island, where missing a train might mean sacrificing your classes for the day.
Morning classes and late-night classes don’t help this at all, since for most commuters, it means having to wake up extra early or having to come home far later, or even crashing at your friend’s dorm (though sometimes, this option is very convenient if you carry spare clothing, and I recommend that you do). Combined, morning classes and missing your train are guaranteed to be a bad way to start your day.
I personally wish the trains ran on 30-minute intervals instead of hourly intervals; at least that way, we could get some cushioning on the off chance that we do miss our train, but alas…
Another pet peeve of mine is the late club timings. While I get that most people are freed up around the evening, I personally think it’s absurd to have most club meetings at 9:15 p.m., especially when that makes things far more difficult to manage for commuters since we don’t have the luxury of walking back to our dorm after clubs. Think of us, please!
Honestly, I had a lot more I wanted to say here, but I don’t think all of it would fit within the word limit for the article. So, in conclusion, is Stevens commuter-friendly? I’d say it depends. If you’re relatively close to campus, it is quite friendly since it saves you a lot of money at the cost of the comfort that living on campus gives.
For those who are further away, I wouldn’t say it’s the best idea, especially considering how late most clubs meet and issues you may run into with the train timings, morning classes, etc. That being said, I’d say as far as colleges go, Stevens is ultimately on the friendlier side for commuter students.
