Unbound: your life, your voice, your world.

Housing Woes

Senior year should be a time of excitement and nostalgia as you look back on your past three years (or more) of college. That was how I envisioned my state of mind being upon thinking ahead to my final year at the College.

But with the current housing situation here, I may be looking forward to four hours of public transportation each day in order to get to classes.

As I hail from Clifton in North Jersey and have no car, I’ve been searching for a place to live. But should the attempts I've made to secure my sister and I a place to live not work out, I'll have no choice but to take two buses and two trains to attend my classes.

This is a process that could take up to six hours (including the nightly return trip), depending on rail connections. Joy.

Admittedly, I look forward to headaches resulting from the bumpy jolts along the way. For my night course, a class that I need and which is only offered at one time next fall, I'd arrive home at around 11:00 or midnight.

The next morning, I would need to wake early enough to arrive for my 8:30 am class the following day.

At present, I have another viable option: my sister and I are currently under negotiations to rent a little house just ten minutes away from the College. However, should this process fall through, not only will we be unfortunate in terms of housing and commuting, but we will have lost our $200 deposit/application fee for the rental.

Such is the pricey life of a commuter—thanks for the housing, TCNJ!

Not.