San José State is hosting its fifth annual Commuter Appreciation Week for students who commute to campus.
SJSU is scheduled to host multiple events throughout the week this year to support the commuter community, according to SJSU’s events calendar.
The week of events kicked off on Monday afternoon with a student resource fair located at the Student Services Center in the Peers Connections lounge from noon–3 p.m., offering students free snacks, shirts and a chance to make important connections.
Greg Garcia, the program director for tutoring services at Peer Connections, said he wants to alert students of the various resources available to them that many wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
“San José State sometimes can be like its own little city and it's hard to know what's going on everywhere, so I'm glad that we have these things so you can always learn more,” Garcia said.
On Tuesday, from 4-7 p.m., Commuter Appreciation Week is scheduled to continue with a do-it-yourself family crafting activity for commuter students and their families at the Student Union Meeting Room 1, according to SJSU’s events calendar.
The third event the Student Union will host is a spa day for commuters, offering a relaxing atmosphere in massage chairs with free refreshments on Wednesday from 1-4 p.m. at the Student Union Meeting Room 1 as well, according to the same source.
Troy Calderon, a second-year aviation student, is a San José resident who commutes 15 minutes to campus. Calderon says he appreciates the information Commuter Appreciation Week offers.
“Things that stuck out were learning more about things like the (Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center), parking services, really just all the amenities that we have at SJSU and becoming more familiar with the resources that that you can utilize as a student,” Calderon said.
SJSU’s Associated Students found 86.66% of the student population live off-campus, according to a Fall 2023 survey.
The last event of Commuter Appreciation Week is scheduled for Thursday from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for students to get free fresh produce from a mini free farmer’s market on Seventh Street Plaza, according to SJSU’s events calendar.
Starting this week, Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) transportation systems will no longer be available for the foreseeable future as workers are on strike, according to VTA’s website.
This means that the 37.94% of off-campus students who rely on VTA to commute, according to the same survey, may have to find other avenues to get to campus.
“Just seeing them come into effect recently, it's kind of weird, like not seeing the buses run, not seeing, like the VTA,” Calderon said. “They have like the senior service vans in my neighborhood, not seeing them was a little weird today,”
Some of the attendees of Commuter Appreciation Week are feeling the effects of the strikes, with many unsure of their future transportation to campus.
Ashley Conte, a third-year business transfer student, commutes from Sunnyvale to campus regularly using the VTA’s light rail system, which is currently down.
“I took an Uber this morning, it was really expensive, so I'm not sure how I'm gonna do this for the rest of the week or the rest of the semester if it goes on,” Conte said.
Despite the hurdles some commuter students face this week, the Commuter Appreciation Week events can help students who already face difficulties from the strikes.
“I think even the smallest things, like free stuff or food, that's usually enough for people like me, to be like let's go in between classes and check it out,” Calderon said.
