Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, transfer sophomore Charles Perschau leaves home by 7:15 a.m.

While his classmates roll out of bed 15 minutes before class begins, he is pulling into Elon University and searching for a parking spot.

Perschau was born in Raleigh. He moved to New Jersey and later California, where he took classes at Cuesta College, a public community college.

Now, he lives in Hillsborough and commutes to Elon for class. And Perschau isn’t the only student to choose this kind of college experience — according to Scott Jean, chief of security for Campus Safety and Police, Elon has 176 registered commuter students this semester.

These students often face obstacles in becoming involved in on-campus activities, but many still feel like they’re part of the Elon community.

Balancing Elon and home

As both a transfer and a commuter, this semester has been a transition period for Perschau. But he still believes he is a part of the college experience.

“Socially, when you’re on campus, you run into more people — but regardless, [the college experience] is what you make of it,” he said. “It’s all about figuring out more about yourself, getting opportunities to meet others.”

As a commuter student, Perschau’s time for on-campus activities is limited, but he is a member of ETalk, Elon’s entertainment talk show.

With the little time he spends on campus, he has to manage his homework differently than many students. He rarely does school work at Elon, choosing instead to work at the Carrboro Coffee Company or at home.

Perschau met most of his Elon friends in classes, but he doesn’t have much time to hang out with them because he has to return home each day.

One of these friends is junior Patrick Achey, a commuter student from Greensboro.

“Unlike most students, we understand the process of going to school,” Achey said. “We’ve bonded over the fact that more effort is required to get to school and through the day.”

Achey transferred to Elon from the University of Mississippi last year. He decided to commute this year to pursue an opportunity in property investment, which is a family business.

“If I didn’t commute, I wouldn’t be able to effectively manage the property investment as I have,” he said.

Achey is a management major and president of the Transfer Student Organization. Like Perschau, he has an 8 a.m. class.

His commute is about 40 minutes, so this semester, he has to plan each day in advance. If he forgets something at home, he has to restructure the whole day to compensate.

Achey has committed to be an Orientation Leader and a tour guide next semester. Like Perschau, he wants to return to on-campus housing or housing closer to campus to be more involved next year.

Achey is glad to have met many people last year in his role as a RA in the Danieley apartments. Without that experience, he believes he wouldn’t have as many friends on campus.

“It was great getting acclimated with the campus last year, being a transfer student,” he said.

Deciding to commute

Unlike Perschau and Achey, other students live in Burlington but decide to live on campus, only minutes away from home.

Freshman Ashley Day’s house is only about 10 minutes away, but she currently lives in Colonnades.

According to Residence Life, she is one of 20 Burlington residents living on campus.

“Distance from home was indeed a factor that I did hesitate with at first,” she said.  “However, family means so much to me, so having them close is nice. I knew whether I decided to go to Elon or not, I would live on campus without a doubt. It is just part of the college experience.”

Though she lives on campus, Day is unlike most students in that she still has the benefit of going home regularly for hot, homecooked meals.

“Personally, I think that living close to campus has impacted my college experience in a positive way,” Day said. “I honestly love being close to home and would not want to be at any other school.”

By living on campus, Day made friends and found roommates for next semester. She joined Alpha Omicron Pi, the Exercise Science Society, Young Life, Autism Speaks and College Republicans. She also has an on-campus job in the men’s basketball office.

“I don’t think there would be any advantages if I had commuted every day,” Day said. “Everything I need is already on campus.”

Sophomore Jacob Schmiederer and junior Steven Cobb made a different decision. They both live in Burlington and commute to campus each day.

Schmiederer said he decided to attend Elon for financial reasons, and one of his goals is to graduate debt-free. He is not very involved in organizations on campus, but  works 15 hours a week at The Oak House.

Cobb decided to attend Elon for four more years of proximity to his family.

“Every Friday around 11 a.m., I have breakfast with my grandmother,” Cobb said.

He also said it’s not logical to pay $8,000 or more a year to live on campus when his home is so close.

Both Burlington commuters agree they miss out on many social opportunities on campus, but there are still benefits to commuting.

“There are definitely a lot of notifications inside dorms about campus events that I never see,” Schmiederer said. “I think you have to hunt for experiences a little more if you don’t live on campus, but living on campus is not necessary for the college experience.”

Similarly, Cobb also struggled to be involved, but eventually found a place where he belonged.

“It took me nearly all of freshman year to find the people I wanted to be with and the organizations I wanted to invest in,” he said. “I consider myself lucky, actually. I know [that] many students who commute to school don’t get involved at all.”

After discussing the college lifestyle with commuter and non-commuter Burlington residents, Perschau learned how to become involved when not living on campus.

Early on, it was simple for him to go to classes and return home without leaving his comfort zone. But he’s glad he didn’t stay that way.

“To all commuter students: be proactive about meeting people, instead of what I tried doing at first,” he said.