By Emma Wulfhorst |
For most students, going to school means taking a short ride in a car or school bus. But for a handful of Two River area students, getting to school is much more of a journey – one involving multiple forms of transportation and sometimes crossing state lines.
Owen Doherty, Rumson resident and recent high school graduate, commuted into New York City every day to attend Regis High School, a private Jesuit school.
Owen’s father works in Manhattan, traveling via the Seastreak ferry. “My dad commutes to work every day, so we just thought I would go with him,” said Owen. But that was only part of his journey. Beginning freshman year, Owen took a car to Atlantic Highlands, the ferry to Manhattan, and then a subway to school.
“The ferry lands at Pier 11, then I’d do about a 10-minute walk, the length of Wall Street. Then I’d take the 4 or 5 train up to 86th St.,” said Owen, explaining his nearly two-hour morning commute.
But commuter students don’t just leave the Two River area to go to school; they often come here from other towns. Kenny Jones, a rising senior at Mater Dei Prep who lives in Hillside, has been taking the 6:45 a.m. NJ Transit train from the North Elizabeth station to Middletown every morning since he started school in September 2015. The entire ride takes him about an hour and 15 minutes.
Fellow Mater Dei rising senior Madeline Brew also takes the train, traveling from her home in South Amboy to get to Middletown. A shuttle bus, owned and operated by Mater Dei Prep, brings the two students and a handful of others from the train station to school.
Mater Dei Prep isn’t the only school with commuter students. “Last year we had about 30 students from the Matawan, Aberdeen, and Hazlet areas that took the NJ transit train,” said Karen Falco, vice principal of Red Bank Catholic. “There were also about 18 students from Asbury Park that used the public bus.”
As much as these students may enjoy their high school time, commuting clearly has some drawbacks, like earlier wake-up times and the stress caused by unexpected problems with public transportation.
“One time I missed getting off at the right stop – the door didn’t open for me,” said Madeline of her NJ Transit ride. “I freaked out and I had no idea what to do. The school had to send someone to come get me.”
Owen never experienced any major delays getting to school because, he said, the ferry was always very reliable. But the few times he was late to school due to subway delays, he wasn’t reprimanded.
Eric Di Michele, director of admissions at Regis, explained how staff will search for train or subway delays online to confirm transportation is really the cause of a student’s lateness. “It’s not that chronic,” he said. Actually, the commuter students are rarely the tardiest, according to Di Michele.
After the school day, the students make the return trip home. Kenny, who plays varsity basketball at Mater Dei Prep, has to rely on a parent or teammate for a ride after practice in the evenings.
Owen’s schedule was packed with extracurriculars at Regis. “I was at school more than I was home – including sleeping,” he said. He would get often get a ride from someone he knew on the ferry or spend the night at a friend’s house in the city.
For a parent, it can be worrisome to send a 14-year-old alone on public transportation for the first time. For Doherty’s mom, Marnie, the ferry wasn’t what concerned her, because they knew so many people on it. “I don’t think it was the ferry that bugged me, it was the subway,” Marnie said. “That part was nerve-wracking.”
To ensure students’ safety, many schools take extra precautions. “We have teachers, and our head of security, who roam around (Red Bank),” to escort commuter students as they walk to school from the train station, said Falco. “There are always people around, both in the morning and at dismissal.”
Though commuting is a challenge, all these students agree: it has taught them valuable life skills.
“It’s taught me to be more independent and responsible,” said Kenny. “I think it’s actually helped me with time management.”
Madeline also agrees commuting has made her more independent. “Not that I was so much sheltered, but I was so nervous to do things on my own and this really pushed me out of my comfort zone,” she said. “I’m not afraid to take the train by myself anymore.”
“When I was younger I had no sense of direction,” said Owen. “I got panicked and lost very easily.” Because of this, he said he was terrified when he had to make the trip by himself for the first time. But now, he said, he’s learned “how to manage crisis a lot better, especially transportation issues,” which should serve him well when he heads to the College of William & Mary in Virginia this fall.
“It was about the experience itself,” said Owen, reflecting on his four years of commuting. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything and I think it was worth it.”
This article was first published in the August 10-17, 2017 Back to School edition of The Two River Times newspaper.
