Name: Leigh Dugan

Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts

Undergrad: University of Massachusetts Amherst

Fun Fact: My husband is in the military and we have moved 4 times in 2 years!!

Hi, Class of 2019! Congratulations on your acceptance to the Regis DPT program; you will not regret your decision to come here. So, now that you have made the choice to make Denver, CO your home, the next step is deciding where to live. Most of you will live close by, so getting to school will not be a problem. However, there may be a few of you that do not have the luxury to live that close for whatever reason. This was the situation that I found myself in a year ago when I decided to go to Regis in the fall. My family could not relocate to Denver and I made the decision to commute from Colorado Springs each day—a 140-mile roundtrip journey on each side of an 8-5pm class day.

Leigh, Taylor and Amanada enjoying some time off of school

I decided to write this blog post because I wish that I had been able to talk to someone to tell me that yes, it is possible and yes, it will be tough. If this is something you are trying to figure out before beginning PT school in August, here are a few tips that I would love to share with you to hopefully make your decision easier:

1. The commute IS indeed possible and was actually quite relaxing after a long school day.
2. Take the time during your drive to decompress. Sometimes, I would sit in absolute silence and take the time to relax and reflect on the day. It is a good excuse to truly do nothing.
3. Be prepared to not have much of a life. When you drive for 3 hours each day, most of your free time is devoted to studying. I wish I could say that there wasn’t much work outside of school in the first year, but that is not the case. Be prepared to spend a few hours after class each day doing school work or studying.
4. To add to the above comment, you have to really make an effort to balance fun times and studying in your free time. This is so important for anyone in PT school to ensure that you keep your sanity!
5. Group projects can be tough to coordinate, but all of my classmates took into consideration my commute and it worked out fine.
6. Find a good podcast that is “mindless.” After a long day of learning, you will want something that is entertaining but isn’t taxing on your mind.
7. Waze, the traffic app, will be your best friend.
8. You will figure out the best times to leave your house in order to dodge traffic. I really learned to take advantage of the extra time I had at school before and after class to get work done so I wouldn’t have to do it at home.
9. It is tough to miss out on all of the fun activities after class. A lot of times, my classmates would go out to concerts or for drinks on weekends and it would be hard to miss these moments. Make an effort to still engage with your class! I never regretted spending the night on a couch so I could join in on the fun :).
10. Do not be afraid to ask for help from your classmates. You will find that everyone in your class is on the same team and they truly want to help. I would not have survived without them!

Brunch after second semester finals

Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions on commuting or any questions at all about Regis! Congratulations again on your acceptance to Regis!

Blogger: Leigh Dugan, ldugan@regis.edu