This past Monday, classes did not run in honor of Presidents’ Day. Because of this extra day off, many Fairfield students went home for the long weekend. This felt like a special occasion for many, as they don’t frequently go home except for long breaks and holidays. However, a handful of students do tend to visit home for weekends regularly, which has led to some deeming Fairfield a “suitcase school”.
A “suitcase school” is a term used to describe colleges where a large proportion of students go home on weekends, hence always packing up their belongings. However, it is not quite accurate to place Fairfield under this definition. Some students live close by and frequently go home for weekends, sure, but this is not an overwhelming occurrence.
First-year Ava Grant is from Rhode Island and notes that she typically doesn’t go home on weekends, with the exception of certain circumstances. “I usually just go home for breaks or long weekends like Presidents’ Day,” she shares. Her home in Rhode Island is about two and a half hours from Fairfield – not a crazy distance, but significant enough to make going home not a viable option every weekend.
However, not even local students return home every weekend. First-year Olivia Filloramo lives in the town of Fairfield, just five minutes from the university. “I would say for how close I live, I feel like I don’t go home too often,” she explains. “It really depends on the week, but I might go home once every two weeks.”
Each student’s circumstances are different, so it’s impossible to describe the behavior of the school as a whole when it comes to going home for weekends. However, it appears that a fair number stick to specific breaks and holidays to make the trip back.
This also raises the question of how exactly students are getting home, especially with underclassmen not having cars on campus. Some stags, such as Grant, use the train. Grant notes that she typically uses the Bridgeport train station, and uses the Amtrak to get there. The train can be incredibly convenient for students, but it can also be costly. “Train tickets for me are usually anywhere between 40 and 100 dollars one way, and then also that to get back to school,” says Grant.
Despite being a first-year, Filloramo is in a unique position. “It definitely makes it a lot easier since I have my car on campus since I have to go to physical therapy,” she shares. “If I didn’t, I’d probably have to Uber or have my mom come and get me.”
A large number of factors come into consideration when determining whether or not a student goes home on a particular weekend, with distance and means of transportation being two of the major ones. Students choosing to stay on campus can still have plenty of activities to stay occupied: programs such as Fairfield@Night ensure that students have engaging events to partake in. So, while campus may have seemed barren this past weekend, Fairfield is still far from a “suitcase school.”
Leave a Reply