During my first year at SCCO, I commuted to Fullerton from San Clemente every day, which ended up being about 45 minutes on the road each way.
Here are some tips I used to make the best of my commute!
- Make it fun! - Commuting can feel like a chore, so I made my drives more fun by simultaneously doing something enjoyable. My favorite thing to do on the road is listen to fun music or podcasts. I used my commute as wind-down time for myself after a long day of learning and socializing at school. Another great use of time is to call a family member or friend! A final tip I used was sometimes listening to lectures via the PanOpto app while driving. This was helpful to get that last quick review in on the way to a midterm or final!
- Drive when traffic is minimal - This is a huge tip that saved me a bunch of time. I used to plan my drives so I wouldn't get caught up in traffic. From my experience, peak traffic would happen from 7:30-9:00am and 4:00-7:30pm. If my school schedule allowed it, I would avoid being on the road during these windows of time, as sometimes it could add an extra 20 minutes on top of my already long commute. If I had an early exam or test I would wake up early so I could beat the traffic. I usually would never leave until after at least 7:30pm to avoid the after-work traffic. If I had a day where my classes were later in the afternoon I would try to drive around 9:30am, which I found to be the sweet spot where not too many people were on the road.
- Put some necessities in your trunk - I had a little corner of my trunk where I had some necessities packed in a separate backpack. Some items I found helpful to have included extra silverware, tupperware, scrubs, and some snacks. Days on campus can be long, so it is helpful to be prepared just in case you forget an item at home!
- Save on Gas - Gas prices are expensive, so to save some extra money you can opt for utilizing a Costco membership or Sam’s Club membership to keep gas costs down.
- Sign up for Campus Clubs - This tip is another one I highly recommend for commuter students. I signed up for a bunch of clubs in the beginning of my first year of optometry school and I am so thankful that I did. I learned so much by attending different club meetings and also usually club meetings come with a provided dinner or snacks! This can keep you preoccupied on campus while you are waiting for traffic to calm down and also is a great time to relax and take a break from studying.
- Utilize Campus Resources - I spent most of my time during the school day in the MBKU Library! This helped me be productive and work efficiently so I could accomplish all of the work I needed to do before commuting home, where I knew I would be less productive.
- Improve your Time Management - Because you must factor your commute into your daily schedule, it is important to have good time management and organizational skills. SCCO is awesome because every class has a class board that helps create Google and Apple calendars with all of the different lecture and lab times. I suggest going a bit further and also taking the time to schedule out your entire day or week into a calendar. I usually block out my entire day and write down exactly what I will be doing during a certain time period. This has helped me to stay accountable for my studies and extracurriculars, and also make sure I am also blocking out time for fun activities as well!