Commuting: A Day In The Life
Ashley Howell, Contributing Writer
Lauren hits the snooze button for the first time. 7:30 a.m. She hits it a second time. 7:48 a.m. She hits it a third time and stumbles out of bed as the clock mockingly glares 8:20 a.m.
Her stomach growls, but she gave up breakfast the second time she hit the snooze button. She pulls on a clean t-shirt and some sweatpants, brushes her teeth, and races out the door. She puts the car in reverse, and begins backing out of her driveway. Realizing she forgot her backpack, she throws the car into park, and runs back to the door. Of course, her keys are in her backpack so she frantically searches for the spare.
Commuter, Maressica Sawyer, sophomore at North Greenville University, can relate. “One of the worst things about having a long commute is forgetting something, whether it be an assignment, a meal, or even clothes,” she said.
The time is now 8:36 a.m. It takes 30 minutes to get to the campus. And of course, this does not include every signal light being red, or getting stuck behind a train. Or two. Or construction.
Jordan Slate, a junior at NGU, can easily relate to this scenario. “I keep forgetting about the recent construction near school, and it always takes up so much time.” He said the frustrating road work can add an additional 5 to 10 minutes to his daily commute.
Now 8:55 a.m., it dawns on Lauren that she has forgotten her lunch. Great. An unplanned $5-$10 she gets to spend. At 9:06 a.m. she stumbles into class. The professor looks at her knowingly. She returns the look with an apologetic one and takes a seat. The day can only improve from here.
“I almost always bring my own lunch. Forgetting is the worst, because then I have to spend money,” says Kaylee Salle, junior at NGU.
Thankfully, Lauren completed her assignments ahead of time, so the stress of the morning thus far, begins to slowly dissipate.
Lunch time. Eat in the cafeteria for $8? Definitely not. Sushi used to be a good option. But that got old quickly. She had pizza for dinner last night, but it still sounds like a good idea. So Papa John’s it is. There goes $5, but it is better than $8. It would be nice to eat lunch with her group of friends, but they are eating in the cafeteria. Unfortunately, there is no public seating in the cafeteria without purchasing a meal.
Only one class to go. In two hours that is. Lauren closed at work last night, so she is still pretty tired. A nap would be really nice. Too bad there’s nowhere to crash for a little bit. However, the weather is getting a little warmer. Lauren decides a nap in the car will be perfect. Even if it makes her look homeless. Which she feels like sometimes.
She wakes up to her alarm 20 minutes before class time. She endures the final lecture, not bothering to take notes today. She usually takes great notes, but it has been a long day. She can just ask someone for their notes later.
The class is dismissed and she packs up her bag. If she heads straight home, she can relax for an hour before heading to work.
After a long 6-hour shift, she pulls into the driveway at 10:45 p.m. She sighs as it seems the day is finally over. She double checks her “to do” list and her heart falls to her stomach: she has a half finished project that is due tomorrow. At 10:00 a.m. She decides to take a quick shower and finish her project as fast as she can.
Unfortunately, the bathroom is occupied by one of her roommates. She resigns to a morning shower, and begins finalizing her project. At 11:57 p.m., she runs the final spell check, word count, and makes sure nothing is missing from her assignment. She then checks her calendar for the remaining days of the week, to ensure no other assignments sneak up on her.
Then it hits her. Tomorrow is Saturday. Nothing is due. She is now ahead for Monday, and she has a late shift tomorrow, which means she can sleep in. And she can sleep in as late as she likes.
She reflects back over her day as her eyes begin to flutter closed. Today, as always, was crazy. But she made it through the week. Commuting can be rough, but she makes it work.
