All posts tagged: Commuting

My Philly Neighborhood: Commuting from the Suburbs

I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, but was always drawn to the city itself. When I enrolled in Temple Law, I was excited to throw myself entirely into city life. I thought that during my time at Temple Law, it was essential for me to live in the geographic boundaries of Philadelphia. However, I quickly realized that this was not the case. Living in the suburbs as a Temple Law student is actually a very real possibility. We all know that law school can be expensive, and for me, living in the suburbs was a way to offset some of that expense. Luckily for me, my parents still live in the same suburb where I grew up and were willing to have me move back home after years of living on my own. As a current third-year law student, I commute to Temple Law every day using Septa’s Regional Rail System. The Regional Rail has trains that run from Philadelphia to the western suburbs, northern suburbs, and even New Jersey. I take the Paoli-Thorndale …

commuter on phone

Your Kindle Dims My and My Students’ Empathy

I am the commuter many of you hate. Maybe I see you alone at the bus stop reading a book that looks interesting and ask you about it. Perhaps I see you looking a little confused on the train platform and ask if you need help figuring out where you are going. Or maybe I see you wearing that Phillies shirt on the train after the game and ask you the score, why you aren’t a Cubs fan like you should be, and how the Phillies will ever improve. In short, I am the overly interested in you transplanted Midwestern type that you may be trying to avoid, trying to draw you into a longer conversation to learn about you. You will succeed in chasing me away with a one-word answer—I am also Midwestern enough to know to leave you alone based on your response—but we’ll miss something. We’ll miss the chance to get to learn a little more about the world and each other together, to possibly become friends (it happens this way!), to …