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\nArticle by Kara Paternostro, May 30, 2016<\/p>\n
\nArticle by Kara Paternostro, May 30, 2016<\/p>\n
Time management should be an essential tool for students juggling classwork, studies, extracurricular activities, relationships, jobs, internships and family responsibilities,\u00a0especially if they must commute long distances.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really have to plan your time,\u201d said Julia Beach, a 21-year-old media studies major. Commuting has \u201cdefinitely improved my time management skills.\u201d Beach, a full-time student, commutes to campus five days a week from Chappaqua, New York, located in Westchester County. Her trip takes her about an hour; she spends about 45 minutes on the Metro-North Railroad and about 15 minutes on the subway.<\/p>\n
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During an interview in mid semester on the fifth floor of the West Building, Beach estimated that she spent\u00a0roughly $400 a month, and around $1,600 a semester on her commute. Despite the expense, Beach said, she \u201cdefinitely likes living at home better, although the commute is annoying.\u201d She previously lived in an apartment on the Upper East side for two years before moving back home with her dad in Westchester. She described life in the Big Apple as \u201csuper lonely\u201d and \u201ccompletely isolating.\u201d\u00a0[Pictures of Julia Beach and commuters by Kara Paternostro.]<\/p>\n
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat, New York, announced proposed\u00a0legislation last October<\/a> to help college students who commute to school. His program proposal would increase federal funding for transit agencies that offer discounts to college students, according to a CBS story<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I could be so much more productive with my time, but I don\u2019t have it,\u201d said Phoebe Kwak, a full-time student who lives in Flushing, Queens. Kwak, 22, said her commute takes her an hour and that she has to schedule her classes to account for her long trip. She takes the Long Island Railroad to Penn Station then two subways to get to campus. \u201cBecause I have to catch the train, I never stay to chat or get to know my classmates,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Hunter had 16,550 students, 61 percent from the city, 30 percent from New York State (including the city), 5 percent from other countries, 3 percent other states,\u00a0according to its 2015 demographic stats. There are no available stats about the distances students must travel to get to campus but there are\u00a0Hunter students who commute from Pennsylvania, Connecticut and, of course, New Jersey.<\/p>\n Having to depend on unreliable public transportation can add stress to commuters’ lives. According to a\u00a0Newsday\u00a0article,<\/a> aged equipment often effects train service for the Long Island Railroad \u2013 the largest commuter railroad in the country \u2013 especially in snowstorms. This reporter has to rely on the LIRR to get to and from campus and she feels stress from\u00a0the commute.<\/p>\n \u201cWith my old commute, I didn\u2019t want to be at Hunter any longer than I had to,\u201d said Kyle Tomanelli, a 20-year-old computer science major who recently moved to Astoria, Queens, from Ronkonkoma, a town on Long Island. \u201cMy commute used to be a little less than two hours to get to Hunter in the morning. And now it\u2019s just a 20 minute subway ride,\u201d he said. This shorter commute has impacted his life.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main difference is that it\u2019s really affected my mood in school,\u201d he said. \u201cI would just get on the train, be miserable because the train sucks, go to my classes, never really talk to anyone or try to make any friends. I knew that whenever I was done doing whatever I was doing, I still had another two-hour commute back home. And now my commute is so easy, no long unbearable train rides.\u201d<\/p>\n Kwak, wearing a stripped shirt and ripped jeans during in an interview on the fourth floor of the North Building, estimated that she pays \u201cabout $216 for monthly ticket on the Long Island Railroad, $116 for the subway monthly,\u201d she said. That\u2019s approximately $1,328 per semester.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay so a peak ticket from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station is $18.25, so $36.50 a day for round trip, and like $73 a week plus subway fare to get from Penn to Hunter,\u201d said Tomanelli, interviewed via email. \u201cNow it\u2019s just subway fare, which is like a little over $10 a week.\u201d<\/p>\n Tomanelli said his previous commute effected his life outside of school because he had \u201cless money to do anything cause all my money was going into the train, and really the time. I never had time to do anything with anyone on days I had school because the train took so much time out of my day.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kara Paternostro \u00a0can be reached at kara.paternostro61@myhunter.cuny.edu<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nWNYC’s Average Commute Times in the United States<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nSeven\u00a0Reasons Why Your Daily Commute Is Slowly Killing You<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n