Owl Commuters
The Florida Atlantic University Owl Commuters are a club that was started very interestingly. Being a commuter student (a student that drives from their home instead of living on campus) during my first year of college was a bit tough on my social life since I didn’t have roommates or friends across the hall, and so I found myself sitting at lunch in between classes alone. Amidst all the dorm-living students sitting together and laughing at inside jokes, I couldn’t and refused to accept that that was the life of every single commuter student on campus. Thankfully, I was part of the “Class of 2017” Facebook page, on which I posted: “Life of a commuter student: having to sit alone at lunch because you haven’t made any friends yet.”
My attempt at a humorous self-pity joke turned out to have over 100 likes and over 50 comments of new students exclaiming that they were going through the very same thing. A Criminology major named Alex (who is now my close friend) suggested we make a club out of the cause, and so we made it one. Alex, CJ (our club secretary) and I created a separate Facebook page for the Owl Commuters that is now going on having 127 members.
Among the popular activities in the club, members could ask to carpool with anyone that lived in their area, ask if anyone was free so they didn’t eat at lunch alone, and attend school events as a club. It became a club of friends that made it like we had our own virtual dorm building. It also served as a connection to all other clubs and extracurricular activities, which many members took advantage of so as to not go immediately home right after class. A guy named Aaron was very involved in Student Government and promoted his candidacy on our page in order for us to vote for him. Many of the members of the Owl Commuters Facebook page promoted their own clubs, a cause they cared about, or opportunities to join Greek life on our page. It ultimately became a page where many people found friends, new passions, new goals as FAU students, etc.
The club is still somewhat small, but there are a manifold of goals for it. When we met with a potential staff advisor, he suggested there could be space made especially and specifically for commuter students. We discussed how it’s somewhat difficult for commuter students to have the college experience compared to dorm-living students, since they didn’t have home close to campus. We discussed having lockers made for the room, a lounge to relax or sleep in (for in between classes), a bulletin board where activities and clubs could promote themselves, etc.
I am very proud to have been part of the founding of this club since there was nothing like it on campus. The purpose of it is to ease being an involved student for commuter students since they have it rather difficult. Alex and CJ are still members of the club’s executive board, and whenever I talk to them and ask for updates, they say the club is on its way on being an institution in school. Helping others is truly the best way to live.
