Commute Advice Forum

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SomeGuy1234

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Joined: Thu May 31, 2018 4:41 pm

Commute Advice

Post by SomeGuy1234 » Thu May 31, 2018 5:03 pm

Hello gang,
I will be attending UT in the fall. I live in San Antonio (1 1/2 hour drive) and will be commuting to school. Any advice on how to ease the commute? Any good audio material out there? I know of a few resources, but I’d like to know of anyone who has firsthand experience with one.

Before I get all the jokes about moving and the “oh my god, I could never do that” statements, I have very good reasons for commuting. I am in my mid 30s, married, two very young kids. My wife loves her job. We have very inexpensive childcare (grandparents and a babysitter) and we can’t put our oldest into daycare yet due to some health issues. We also pay next to nothing in rent because we live at a property our family owns, so we’ll be paying about $3000 a year to live in a 3 bd house with a huge yard and the best landlords on Earth. Getting an apartment in Austin isn’t an option either, I love my family too much to be away from them, I’ll be on campus between 7:30-3:45 everyday, doing my studying at school with some review on Sundays (treating school like a job so I can see my family). Barring an extreme traffic event, I’ll be leaving home at 5:45 and getting home at 5:30, which is just a little longer than my current time away from home right now. Waiting and reapplying for a more convenient time isn’t an option either, I was offered an incredibly good deal, one that I’m sure won’t be offered again. If 1st semester is unbearable, we’ll move. I also plan on working and living in San Antonio after this is all done.

Anyway, any advice on how to study while driving? Other tips to unwind after school would be great too!

Thanks everyone!

vattah

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Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:33 pm

Re: Commute Advice

Post by vattah » Thu May 31, 2018 6:38 pm

SomeGuy1234 wrote:Hello gang,
I will be attending UT in the fall. I live in San Antonio (1 1/2 hour drive) and will be commuting to school. Any advice on how to ease the commute? Any good audio material out there? I know of a few resources, but I’d like to know of anyone who has firsthand experience with one.

Before I get all the jokes about moving and the “oh my god, I could never do that” statements, I have very good reasons for commuting. I am in my mid 30s, married, two very young kids. My wife loves her job. We have very inexpensive childcare (grandparents and a babysitter) and we can’t put our oldest into daycare yet due to some health issues. We also pay next to nothing in rent because we live at a property our family owns, so we’ll be paying about $3000 a year to live in a 3 bd house with a huge yard and the best landlords on Earth. Getting an apartment in Austin isn’t an option either, I love my family too much to be away from them, I’ll be on campus between 7:30-3:45 everyday, doing my studying at school with some review on Sundays (treating school like a job so I can see my family). Barring an extreme traffic event, I’ll be leaving home at 5:45 and getting home at 5:30, which is just a little longer than my current time away from home right now. Waiting and reapplying for a more convenient time isn’t an option either, I was offered an incredibly good deal, one that I’m sure won’t be offered again. If 1st semester is unbearable, we’ll move. I also plan on working and living in San Antonio after this is all done.

Anyway, any advice on how to study while driving? Other tips to unwind after school would be great too!

Thanks everyone!
Record the lecture on your phone and listen to it through aux in your car. Or listen to some language learning podcasts. I used to commute to college for about the same time, albeit through train, and I would read, learn some more spanish, or review recorded lectures. There are also some great legal podcasts (lawyer to lawyer, bloomberg law etc) that discuss current legal issues.

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