A Peek Into the Life of a Commuter

It’s Friday afternoon in the 116th Street subway station. A young face squeezes onto a packed 1 train among a crowd of gray-haired commuters in suits. As her fellow students lament the long trek back to East Campus from class, Amanda James, CC ’11, is setting off on a commute back to her Union Square apartment, where she lives with her family.

Students in Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science who commute are few and far between, so commuters do not tend to compose a very large part of Columbia’s campus activities, clubs, and social gatherings.

“I still haven’t made any friends. People tend to be impersonal in class and make friends with who they live with,” James says, speaking over the squeal of the train on the other end of the platform. But that’s a common sound on James’ daily commute.

She goes back and forth each day from campus to her downtown apartment because of her current financial constraints.

“It was basically a financial incentive,” she says. “It’s almost $10,000 to live here. My parents would not pay for it and I would not pay for it, so it’s basically the money.”

As the train arrives at 42nd Street, crowds of people make their way in opposite directions. James climbs up the flight of stairs and rushes through the underground maze that Times Square hides beneath it.

Despite the financial setbacks, James’ schedule is very well-organized. Her most hectic day consists of getting up at 7 a.m., arriving at campus by 9 a.m., going to class, and arriving home at 10 p.m. to have dinner. “It’s definitely exhausting,” she says.

Of all the nuisances, James is especially unhappy with the subway system and the people who use it.

“There are angry people on the subway all the time,” she says. “It’s very annoying. I don’t like the vibe I get from so many people.”

She steps onto the N train, dodging brusque subway riders.

As for the common idea that commuting allows time to catch up on sleep or overdue work, James says she disagrees because of the number of people that pack the subways.

“I’m not able to sit down, and am usually limited to reading and can’t do much writing,” she says. “Sometimes it’s too packed and you have to hold the book in front of your face.”

With the limited time between classes, she doesn’t have much chance in the day to actually work or catch up on assignments and reading either.

“I really don’t have any free time,” James says. “I’m always working via schoolwork or ballet practice and I really don’t have much sleeping time.”

Even though commuting requires the use of the New York City subway system, James also acknowledges that it can be beneficial to leave Columbia every day. She says: “I feel like a lot of people that live up here are isolated in their own little bubble. They don’t get out much, and they don’t venture past 110th Street. You need to have a variety of experiences.”

But despite that potential benefit, James says she would prefer to live on-campus.

“I would definitely choose to be up here. You can go downtown on weekends or in the afternoon—there’s nothing limiting you,” she says.

Finally reaching 14th Street, James squeezes her way through large crowds of people and carefully but swiftly swings through the exit and climbs out of the underground.

Only then—an hour and several miles from the Broadway gates—does Amanda point to her building and say, “That’s it, I’m home.”

zahra.khimji@columbiaspectator.com