Expecting a smoothie from JuiceBlendz Café after class ends at 8:30 p.m. or thinking that DeSantis and the Huizenga College of Business are two different buildings are both actions that scream NSU freshman. In hindsight, it seems so obvious. If I want a smoothie late at night, Starbucks should be my first stop, and of course the DeSantis building is also the Huizenga building. However, there’s one piece of advice that my residential freshman mind simply cannot comprehend: Do not count on the Shark Shuttle to get to class in a timely manner.
At freshmen orientation, they made the Shark Shuttle seem like the Holy Grail of transportation at NSU. “The Shark Shuttle will take you to the bookstore,” they said. “There are several routes on the Shark Shuttle,” and my favorite, “The Shark Shuttle runs every 20 minutes.” I guess I should take a cue from rapper, DJ Khaled, and “never listen to they.”
What “they,” orientation leaders and coordinators, don’t tell freshmen is that the Shark Shuttle does not run these routes all day. For example, the few routes that take students to the bookstore may not actually run during the times students have class near the bookstore. “They” also failed to mention that while there are schedules online for various routes, there are no specific arrival and departure times beyond the claim that the shuttle runs every 20 minutes. I am still trying to figure out what time of day these 20 minutes begin and end.
In my few weeks at NSU, I’ve called the Shark Shuttle help desk more often than I’ve called my little sister. What’s most astonishing is that everyone else seems to understand that the Shark Shuttle is not a reliable mode of transportation for students trying to make it to class on time. Professors have cautioned me against depending on the Shark Shuttle, upperclassmen have chuckled at my naiveté and even the employees at the Shark Shuttle help desk have asked me to allow a 10- to 20-minute interval both before and after the already flexible every-20-minute schedule. The good news is that I have yet to arrive late for a class, no thanks to the Shark Shuttle.
I don’t understand why NSU’s provided transportation does not run in a timely manner, but I guess I have all semester, or the next four years, to figure it out. In the meantime, I’ll put on my running sneakers and trudge the 12-minute walk to class.
