Commute is one of those words that has been hijacked and currently used so as to come across as braggadocious.
Commuting used to mean covering large distances daily often across State lines for work. Or using mass transit for hours so you could make a living. Living hundreds of miles away from work where the cost of living was was doable.
Commuting has never ever meant a :45 minute drive to work.
Till now that is, the word has been hijacked.
Drive safe.
I know people who live in upstate New York who commute to New York City due to the high cost of living in the city.
In that sense, Lafayette would not qualify for city and long existing towns 20 minutes away would not qualify for suburbs.
Look at noun, "long distances"
With exceptions Louisiana requires undergraduate students to live on campus.
A commuter school narrative doesn't fit that scenario.
To be a commuter or not to be a commuter, that is the question.
My college journey was atypical. I went to college right out of a small-town high school. I saw the exodus at then USL on weekends while I stayed in the dorms. You see going to college for me meant needing to have an income. I wasn't ready then and took a hiatus. When I returned, I stayed in an off-campus apartment that was for college students. I drove to Cajun Field to take the bus to campus, while working a full-time job. I say this because I wonder how many of these students returning home on the weekend have jobs back home. Also, how many students who do live locally are working on weekends? The price of attending college has gone up significantly over the years and let's face it, not every family has the means to put aside money for their children to attend college.
I went to football games when work allowed it. I got a bachelor's degree and later a master's degree from UL. I even taught as an adjunct for a semester prior to the pandemic. What I quickly realized is the challenges I faced as a student were much more widespread and complicated now, and I had many students who wanted a degree and that's all. Today's college experience has evolved from the college experience of years ago. We need to be mindful of that and not judge today's students based on our own experiences.
Had a family member live in West Virginia and commute to DC. Taxes and housing costs are killers in Virginia. The DC/Virginia transit network runs west to near the state line.
So being commuter is relative to distance and hurdles.
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