Commuting
A realistic Guide to life at UCLan - written by students!
Nicola Lee, 3rd year, BA (Hons) Public Relations
As I write this advice for you I am sat on a bus, why? I hear you ask. Well I decided not to take the average student route and move onto the university campus or a student house. I decided to commute from home. I did think about the decision I made, it was not a rushed one. I only live 18.3 miles from the university, so Google maps tell me. The journey in a car only takes 30 -45 minutes so I thought this would be a good decision. I was having driving lessons at the time, and it was before I failed my test miserably, and gave up for everyone else’s safety. I then had to rely on public transport, the bus in particular, a bus that takes an hour to get from where I live to campus.
Two hours a day commuting is a lot when you get to third year and you need more time for doing work. Early lectures are also a down fall to commuting; I used to get the bus at 7:30 am to be at a 9am lecture, when all my non-commuting friends could roll out of bed and into the lecture. I suppose the journey is not all bad, I can sometimes get some reading or writing done, depending on how bumpy the ride was.
There are both pros and cons to commuting I did miss out on some nights out and meeting new friends, other than the ones on my course. On the other hand I have all my washing done for me and a home cooked meal every night.
So there are there are both positive and negative aspects to commuting to university and I hope I have helped you to make up your mind, I know if I had my time at university again I would definitely live on campus.