They look like the students living on campus, yet something about them is different.  Wofford College houses majority of the population, but for students who do not live on campus, joining the Wofford “bubble” can seem difficult.

“It seems  that some parts of the student body think that if you do not live on campus, then you are an outsider or someone who does not belong,” says junior Brad Benson.

When applying to attend Wofford, students have two options for residency: on-campus or off, the latter requiring the student to commute to school.  Students who choose to live on-campus are assigned a dorm room and a roommate, if available.  Meanwhile, students choosing to commute are assigned an identification card and a parking permit, one of the few items commuting students share with residential students aside from the orientation t-shirts.

In this semester 160 students are listed as commuters, and part of that number includes students currently studying abroad.

Sophomore Torey Ballenger began commuting in her freshman year due to the extra $10,000- $14,000 expense to live on campus.  She says, “[Other students] make the assumption that everyone on campus must live on campus.  I do not understand why it is a big deal.  If I am out here getting an education like you, doing hard work and being the best I can be, then I do not see a problem.”

In addition to classes, Benson works as manager at Chick-fil-A.  He says, “I was talking to a Sigma Nu member about how nervous I was being a commuter as a first year.  He stated, ‘Yeah, we normal students do not like you independents.’  He went on to say I was in the subsect of Wofford’s community and that we were out of place since we did not want to conform and live on campus.  Once we are labeled as an ‘independent,’ everyone knows, and they generally avoid you and not try to include you in events.  I’m not bitter about the comment but rather perplexed since Wofford sells itself on the ‘deep’ and ‘profound sense of community.'”

On the other hand, junior Rea Gajewsky is apt to call Wofford her second home, but she admits her experience would have different had she not lived on campus her first year.  “I do not know if I would have the same friend group simply because living together is a different dynamic.  I do not know if I would feel welcomed.  I do not know if I would have the same community  aspect if I did not live on campus my freshman year.  I think I would have felt like an outsider coming in.”

Meanwhile, sophomore Dmitriy Kaplum and junior Eli Henson feel integrated in Wofford’s community despite the various difficulties of being a commuter.

“Commuting is not a hassle, but when I forget things, I cannot run to my dorm room.  My schedule is also rigid and set.  I have no time for social events on campus,” says Kaplun.

Henson, who also volunteers at the Arts Academy of the Carolinas says, “If something goes wrong for me, like I forgot something or it is pouring rain or I get splashed by a puddle, I cannot change or clean up.  I do not have a place to go do that.”

“There are a lot of hidden things that [commuters] are not necessarily told right away.  You need to go find the Aramark office to get your meal plan faster and know their office hours because it seems like they are never there.  A lot of [information] is up in the air because commuters are not necessarily the biggest population of campus,” says Gajewsky.

While Ballenger, Gajewsky, Henson and Kaplun suggest reserved parking for commuting students and a more flexible commuter meal plan, Benson says, “I would think the best way to integrate commuters is to celebrate commuter students with specific events that they could attend, not exclude the housing students but show appreciation for those individuals (unable to live on campus or stay longer on campus).”