An international student's transportation dilemma

Aboard the first train to depart Penn Station since the strike ended was Becca Thomas, whose move back to East Meadow, and the Gulf, from college upstate had been left with a question mark.

Thomas, 18, an international student who is from Dubai, attends Bard College and needs to commute from upstate — via Amtrak, then the LIRR — to get home after the semester ends. She is with relatives in East Meadow when she's not at college or home in the United Arab Emirates, where she is headed for summer break.

"I was watching the news and so were my relatives who live here and my parents who back home were also paying attention to the news for any updates," she texted Newsday from the 12:03 p.m. bound for Ronkonkoma.

She added: "We were forced to consider how I would completely reroute my trip, manage all of my bags, and find an alternative way home —something that would have been both financially and emotionally draining."

"It made me realize how deeply transportation disruptions affect people’s everyday lives," Thomas said.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.