So, my friend was reading through my blog and asked me today, what makes a non-traditional student?
And I told her that it is basically anyone who does not live on campus…but then she asked if my sister counted as a non-traditional student, and I said that my sister was a traditional student, and she asked why?
You see, my sister did go to a 4 year school, and she did live on campus for the first 2 years, but the second two years she spent in an apartment that was one street away from campus. She shared the apartment with a roommate and the apartment was housed through financing similarly to a dorm. She literally lived there just because she thought it would save my parents money, but otherwise it was exactly like dorm living, and thus I still considered her to be a traditional student.
Commuters and non-traditional students, they have to work hard to maintain campus life. Adult learners who return to college after so many years are considered non-traditional students, and students like me who maintain their own apartment that they pay for by themselves, or with little help are non-traditional students.
I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing each type of campus living from dorm, to commuting from my parents, to what I have now living in an apartment near my campus.
What have your experiences been like?