student in bathroom with caption 'come fly to class with me' (l) pov of sky from plane window with caption every week I hop on a 6 am flight' (c) student in car with caption 'Ubered down to campus in Chicago' (r)

@loafs_/TikTok Remix by Caterina Cox

‘It absolutely is expensive’: Graduate student commutes by airplane to class every week

'Ok I am not complaining abt my college commute anymore.'

 

Tricia Crimmins

IRL

Posted on Aug 30, 2023

A student says that she commutes by airplane from New York City to Chicago one day per week to attend her graduate school class.

In a TikTok posted on Aug. 21, TikToker Loafs (@loafs_) shows how she flies from New York City to Chicago—and back—to attend class at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management one day per week.

“Every week I hop on a 6am flight,” Loafs says in her video, adding that she uses the flight time to study for her class.

On Wednesday, Loafs’ video had almost 50,000 views on TikTok.

@loafs_ Come to class w me! Another weekly commute vlog! #minivlog #commutewithme #supercommuter #commutingbyplane #nyctiktok #chitiktok #student #college #commuterstudent #studentlife #university #gradschool #mba #productivity #collegelife #newyork #businessschool #schoollife #mbacandidate #collegetips #mbatips ♬ original sound – Loafs

When she’s not attending class, Loafs has shared on her TikTok that she is a New York City-based influencer marketing manager. She has also shared another video of her weekly cross-country commute.

Commenters on Loafs’ videos were amazed that she takes two flights a day once a week—and that she has the money to do so.

“Ok I am not complaining abt my college commute anymore,” @arishxxa commented.

“Imagine being this rich,” @gimmethattwigbitch wrote.

Loafs is part of a growing group of students and workers who are super-commuters, people who travel more than an hour and a half—or across multiple state lines—to get to school or work.

In a follow-up video, she explained why she chose to commute to Chicago from New York City weekly for graduate school: Her class this semester is not able to be taken remotely, nor is her job.

As for why she chose to attend Northwestern rather than a business school in New York City, Loafs says that Northwestern was her dream school, so she decided to enroll there.

“Just because I could go to a school in New York,” Loafs says. “To me, even if that was less money, I consider it a waste to go to an institution just because [of where it is located].”

She says she decided not to move to Chicago because her job in New York City requires her to be in person.

Regarding her financial situation, Loafs says being a super-commuter is “absolutely expensive” but that she pays her flight expenses out of her salary from her job, as she is financially independent.

“I definitely have to budget very strictly to make this happen,” Loafs says. “But again, this was my dream school.”

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*First Published: Aug 30, 2023, 4:36 pm CDT