Any student commuters?

Hi Kaychell!

I will be commuting 2hours to school!! Its about 146 miles literally from my driveway to the schools parking lot! You are not alone! I guess when the weather gets bad we'll have to get up extra, extra early to be on time! We have made it this far so can't let a little drive stop us now!

Good Luck!!

T:clown:

I'm commuting about an hour, and I have done this for work the last ten years, so it is nothing new to me. I also have a 2 hour break between classes, and I am definitely going to use it to study. Lunch AND dinner will be something prepared ahead of time and frozen-it will be thawed a bit by lunch and ready to microwave, and dinner will go in the fridge at work once I get there.

I forgot to answer your question about the weather. I just always check the forecast a day ahead in winter and plan to leave very early if it looks like their might be a storm so I have plenty of time to drive carefully. It helps to have a Subaru.

Mine is just 20 minutes, but I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, on Lake Superior, in the mining country, so the winters are wicked and the roads hilly and icey.

Yes, 60 mins one way and it is worth it. I don't want to stay in dorms and pay $15,000 or more...I can use that money for something else.

Wow! To The Commuter!!

You give me hope!! My measly 146 miles is nothing compared to yours! Now I don't feel so stressed about the drive knowing that there are others out there doing the same! Congrats to you on your RN! I hope to be there in 2yrs!

T:nurse:

Wow, I though my commute was long (about 45 minutes-hour depending on traffic).. I feel a little better now.

I am lucky because my program has dorms, and while I am NOT staying in them, if I know the weather is going to be bad I am allowed to rent one for the night for like $10... I live in PA, and if the winter is anything like it was last year, I might be doing that a couple times.

I am just scared that I'll do that, get snowed in, and theyll cancel class/clinical and I'll be stranded there for who knows how long! I guess I'll be able to get some studying done then! haha

I don't commute far (only 20 mins - got into my school of choice), but I applied to a school that was 1.25 hours away. So, I did a lot of research, thinking that I might end up commuting that distance. Here are a few great tips I found:

- record lectures and listen to them in the car

- if you need a break from nursing, listen to books-on-tape

- keep a bag in your trunk with a spare set of clothes, toothbrush, shampoo, anything essential; just in case weather is too bad - you'll get to know your classmates real quick and I'm sure one of them wouldn't mind you crashing on their couch if you need to - it's better to crash on a couch than to risk an accident while driving home in a blizzard.

- take a cooler and pack your lunch/dinner in there with ice packs - if you can run out to your car between classes, great, and if not, grab your lunch out of the cooler and take it to class with you, at least the food will remain cold on your way to school.

- always pack a little extra food - you never know when you'll need it. You could get stuck behind a car accident, with the freeway backed up for miles. It's always nice to have a piece of fruit or something if you need it.

- I had a 3 hour break b/w classes a couple semesters ago. Instead of going home, I'd head to the library and camp out in a quiet corner. It's amazing how much studying you can get done b/w classes. I'd eat my lunch during that time as well, and use the computers to check my email and relax a bit before heading back to class.

That's all I have. Hopefully you find a couple of these tips helpful.

- record lectures and listen to them in the car

- if you need a break from nursing, listen to books-on-tape

- keep a bag in your trunk with a spare set of clothes, toothbrush, shampoo, anything essential; just in case weather is too bad - you'll get to know your classmates real quick and I'm sure one of them wouldn't mind you crashing on their couch if you need to - it's better to crash on a couch than to risk an accident while driving home in a blizzard.

- take a cooler and pack your lunch/dinner in there with ice packs - if you can run out to your car between classes, great, and if not, grab your lunch out of the cooler and take it to class with you, at least the food will remain cold on your way to school.

- always pack a little extra food - you never know when you'll need it. You could get stuck behind a car accident, with the freeway backed up for miles. It's always nice to have a piece of fruit or something if you need it.

- I had a 3 hour break b/w classes a couple semesters ago. Instead of going home, I'd head to the library and camp out in a quiet corner. It's amazing how much studying you can get done b/w classes. I'd eat my lunch during that time as well, and use the computers to check my email and relax a bit before heading back to class.

That's all I have. Hopefully you find a couple of these tips helpful.

These are GREAT tips!!!! Good idea about the extra clothes! I bought a recorder for the lectures with the commute in mind, it will probably help quite a bit, relistening to them! Thanks so much for posting these!!!!

I refuse to commute more than 20 minutes to school or work.

I like the commute to school that goes from my coffee pot to my computer.