When choosing a college to attend, the commute is definitely an aspect to weigh in. A college student wants to commute far enough to gain some independence, but not too far as to not being able to go home in case of an emergency, or homesickness.
In some cases, students choose a college close to home for convenience. This convenience can be for example, being able to live at home, thus commuting back and forth from school to home. Another convenience is being able to save money. The commute to school can be anywhere from a mile away to twenty miles away, giving a free range of students who attend a certain college. Most colleges offer extra services for students to take advantage of while on campus.
Commuting from home, students gain a sense of independence and save money. By using public transportation or commuting, sometimes carpooling, students learn how to depend on themselves to get to school with the supplies needed on time. This makes a student gain discipline on how to manage their schedule, whether it is taking an earlier bus or driving to school earlier in order to avoid traffic and/or unexpected collisions.
Students also learn how to manage to go to school and pick-up a part-time or full-time job. Saving money is always a positive aspect in college. Rio Hondo does not offer in-campus living; therefore, all students commute. However, it does offer a TAP (Transit Access Pass) card by the Go Rio program. The Go Rio program partners with the city of El Monte, Foothill Transit, Metro, Montebello Bus Lines, Norwalk Transit, and Sunshine Shuttle to provide discounted transit pass to full-time students that are in good financial standing. This lets students save money by living at home and commuting to school.
When sampling 100 students at Rio Hondo, 38% admitted to commuting 1-5 miles to school, 35 percent commute 6-10 miles, 19 percent commute 11-15 miles, and another 8 percent commute over 16 miles. This concludes that a whopping 73 percent of students at Rio Hondo College commute 1-10 miles. Nearby cities include El Monte, Hacienda Heights, La Puente, Pico Rivera, West Covina, and Whittier. Students that commute between 11-15 miles come from cities like Bell Flower, Covina, East Los Angeles, and Rowland Heights. Lastly, students who commute over 16 miles come from Compton, Fullerton, Pomona, and Southgate.
Even though Rio Hondo does not offer in-campus living, it does offer services like a cafeteria, computer labs, campus quad, gym, and a learning resource center. The cafeteria has basic nutritious on-the-go food, and it also includes a coffee station.
Students can also take advantage of the computer labs offered all around the Rio Hondo main campus. In lab, students sign in with their student ID number in order to use the computers for school assignments and print documents at a low charge.
The campus quad is filled with many sitting areas to hang out with friends or catch a quick study session. The gym in located at the lower-right handed part of the campus, and is accessible by adding one of the many offered physical fitness courses at Rio Hondo. These courses include conditioning, Pilates, yoga, weight training, and most sports.
Lastly, Rio Hondo offers a learning resource center that has computer labs, study rooms, tutoring spaces, testing, and the library. These functions offered at Rio Hondo make a student’s commute worth the effort, given that they can find food, exercise, help, and of course, an education.
