Last week, I gave a shoutout to my fellow MCVA majors. This week, it’s all about my commuters. (Don’t worry Political Science department, your turn is coming).

I’ve been commuting to Pace since my freshman year, and boy do I have stories to tell. Or rant about? It has been quite a ride — pun intended.

As a commuter student, it’s super easy to feel left out of the “Pace family” environment that the Pleasantville campus embodies most of the time. This is probably because most campus events are hosted past 9pm – and what student wants to stay on campus when their day is over when they could be home in comfy pjs? No, not even free pizza will get me to stay that late.

We’ve all been there.

Then there are the resident students that feel they have this advantage over us because they can roll out of bed 10 minutes before class and make it there on time.

Well, I have two words for you guys: communal bathrooms. Ew.

True, it’s not fun that I have to be up at least an hour before my class to get ready and endure my 25 minute commute –  but at least I don’t have to schedule my bathroom visits in advance. Or deal with clogged showers. Or a messy roommate. Or 3am fire drills.

I would take commuting over that any day.

Of course, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine as commuting does have its cons. The parking situation, classes that end at rush hour, those two new road bumps (mountains) in front of Martin Hall? (Hint: my next op-ed.)

But we make it work. And contrary to popular belief, commuters are a part of the campus too. Most of us are stuck there all day with back to back classes and meetings, which makes our meal plan a complete joke by the way.

According to U.S. News Rankings, commuters at Pace make up 58% of the student population. That’s more than half. It’s the only time I don’t represent a minority on this campus.

We don’t just go to events, we plan them too. We don’t just read the school paper, we make up some of the top editors and writers on the team. We make up the campus. We are Setters.

And yet, we are very close to being underrepresented at Pace. I say close because the Commuter-Life programming from SDCA was revived less than two years ago. In an effort to bridge the commuter-resident gap and voice the concerns of commuters – Commuter Assistant positions have been filled. And ya girl right here is one of two this year.

Besides my shameless plug, commuter students should know they have a place on this campus too. There is power in numbers and we have the ability to comfortably make this campus your second home.

For more information about Commuter-Life events or to reach out to a Commuter Assistant, please visit: www.pace.edu/commuter-life