would it be stupid for me to commute 2 hours to school at U of T? i really want to attend the school, but my parents don’t want me to move out. not sure if it would be practical, and i’d be spending a lot of time/money on transport. i plan on studying english though, so i could just read on the train. what do you think?
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hey there,
as someone who has both commuted to and lived on residence at uoft, i feel uniquely qualified to answer this question.
firstly, a lot of people commute to uoft. according to this UofT Magzine article, about 85% of uoft students are estimated to commute to school. if you’re going to commute, uoft is a pretty good place to do it. most people know how you feel, and there are lots of resources for commuters, like commuter dons, lockers and lounges for people who don’t have their own room on campus.
that said, commuting isn’t fun, and 2 hours is a bit on the long side.
my travel time was 1.5 hours long when i was commuting. i put it to good use – i did my readings on the train, drafted e-mails, wrote essays that i forgot about the night before. more often than not, i slept through a large portion of my morning commute.*
so yes, you can get stuff done on your commute, you definitely won’t be alone, AND it is much, much cheaper than living in res or renting a house (unless you violate some lease agreement and stuff like eight people into two rooms).
in my opinion, the greatest drawback to commuting – which i never hear anyone talk about – is the drain on your energy. no one ever believes it, because “how can you get tired just by sitting still???” but it’s true. commuting will sap the energy out of you like nothing else, and it just whittles away the time that you actually feel productive enough to do stuff.
as everything, there are pros and cons. if you have some way of avoiding a long commute, i’d always recommend that. but if commuting is the most practical, financially reasonable solution for you and your family, then you will get along just fine. you might even get some work done on the train.
good luck on your travels,
aska
* once you become a Level 500 Train Queen, you receive the power of being able to sleep for the EXACT AMOUNT OF TIME that it takes for your train to get to its destination. then you wake up just as the train is pulling in. you have to train for a long time before you become that skilled, though (get it? train? like sports? but also…train?)