Maybe it's me, but the campus feels a lot smaller at the start of junior year. The scenery on the walk from the Shapiro Campus Center to Goldfarb Library has begun to blur so that this five-minute trek becomes nothing but a taxing uphill workout. The faces of my fellow classmates, while a welcome reminder of our personal stake in the comfortable Brandeis community, likewise begin to meld into each other every time I walk from the Shiffman Humanities Center to the Goldman-Schwartz Fine Arts building. I love these aspects of day-to-day life at Brandeis, and I wouldn't change them for the world. We all know that no social scene beats the bottom of the Rabb steps on an early afternoon weekday. But we've all experienced the Brandeis version of claustrophobia-be it on a social level, an intellectual level or a geographic level. Sometimes a person just needs to get out.

Unfortunately, though, getting out isn't so simple. Brandeis enjoys advertising its campus' close proximity to Boston. And yes, with a mere nine miles to travel, Brandeis is indeed very close to Boston. Get a ride in a car or a cab and you're there in no time. But for those who can't afford the cab and don't have a car (or don't feel comfortable driving a car at any given point), accessing Boston is another story.

One of the greatest services Brandeis provides, in my opinion, is the Crystal Shuttle that runs every weekend. The shuttle stops at several places on campus in order to accommodate students who live in different areas and then travels into Boston proper, stopping in Harvard Square in Cambridge and at Beacon Street and Massachusetts Avenue. From there, students can access many destinations in the city. However, shuttles run an hour and a half apart, meaning that missing your shuttle and keeping your plans simply isn't an option. Shuttles also begin running rather late in the day: For many, beginning a day trip at 3 p.m. on Saturday or at noon on Sunday isn't ideal. And few would argue that the MBTA provides a good alternative to Brandeis transportation, considering the infrequency of the Commuter Rail on weekends and the fact that the T shuts down at about 1 a.m.

I could continue to ramble about the inconvenience of the Crystal Shuttle and the MBTA. I could urge Brandeis to do something about it-or, at the very least, to change the deceiving language on its website to dispel the notion that Boston is in easy reach of Waltham. In fact, I'd definitely like to do both of those things, but instead I'll channel my complaints into a more constructive suggestion: Learn to love Waltham.

Yup, I said it: the words "love" and "Waltham" in the same sentence. If "love" is too strong, consider just appreciating Waltham in its suburban charm. Of course, life in a suburban town like ours doesn't parallel the historic, cultural and social activity that Boston offers-but then again, you can't find a lot of things in Boston that you can find here in Waltham.

Mayor Jeannette McCarthy (be honest-did you know the name of our city's mayor before reading this?) articulated this idea well in a post in the Waltham News Tribune last week titled "This is what I love about Waltham." This naturally piqued my curiosity, so I clicked on the post and learned what exactly the mayor of Waltham loves about my neighborhood. McCarthy identifies several aspects of Waltham she loves: its rich history; its people; its location; its educational facilities; its open space and recreation opportunities; and its museums, culture and fine arts.

Reading further into these categories, I learned a lot about the place I've been calling home for two years now. For example, according to the August 2010 issue of Money Magazine, Waltham is the 28th best small city in the United States. Because of the convenience to Route 128 and the Massachusetts Turnpike, Waltham strongly appeals to local and internationally known businesses, especially biotech and high-tech companies and hotels. Waltham has eight brand-new schools, hundreds of acres of naturally beautiful open space and countless museums that I'd never heard of but now would love to visit.

The bottom line: Those suffering from the all-too-common Brandeisian claustrophobia have nothing to worry about. There's plenty to do right here in our own town, and much of it is in walking distance from our dorms. It's certainly still worthwhile to visit Boston and experience its unique history and culture, but if transportation obstacles get the better of you, it's not the end of the world. Soon enough, you'll be putting together your own list of what you love about Waltham.