How To Get the Most Out of EU as a Commuter

One of the biggest mistakes that I made as a commuter student was not going to activities or clubs until the end of my freshmen year. There is no reason to isolate yourself and only go to school.

Elmhurst University has a lot to offer in terms of clubs, organizations, and activities. For me, the first clubs I got involved with were the Philosophy club and the Creative Writing club.

In the Philosophy club I was able to expand on my knowledge of philosophy and partake in debates that I otherwise would not, and had not been able to experience.

The Creative Writing club helped me to rediscover my love of writing, especially poems.

Then came the day I discovered The Leader at the involvement fair, decided to give it a chance, and the rest is history.

I posed a question on Yik Yak about what tips people had about commuting to EU. The student body seemed to settle on three main tips:

The first tip, while a little less than helpful, is to not become a commuter at all. One user said, “being a commuter is boring.”

Another user said, “First of all-don’t. If not an option-cope.”

Other people said commuting would allow you to stay more focused on academics. One user says, “You can save a lot of money and get to stay out of any drama at the school.”

This is very true and even though EU does provide a lot of scholarships to students these do not always cover cost of living and it can be a very smart idea to save the most amount of money as you can.

The last tip is that even though you are commuting, you can still build connections and this school can still bring positive experiences into your life.

One user says, “Make an effort to get involved in clubs or activities to help make friends.”

While I was a commuter I was able to build a bigger bond with my friends and make even more when I decided to bring myself out of my shell and go to events like any of the sports games or activities that went on during the “Weeks of Welcome”.

As a final piece of advice, a user noted, “ask people to go to different school events with you.”

What I found was that once you started to ask people to go to events or clubs with them, they would likely ask you to hang out more and that helps build upon your friendship.

Even if there aren’t any clubs or organizations that speak to you, you can always create a new club too. All you need is a handful of friends and to write a group constitution.

I made the recommendations of the Creative Writing club, Philosophy club, The Leader before, but there are clubs for everyone on campus. If you are into art, why not try out our art or origami club? If you have a special talent for singing or acting, there is nothing stopping you from at least auditioning for these experiences and making memories that will last for years.