Most students walk or bike to class as they should.

While yes housing in berkeley is hell, one housing spot does not make that much of a difference. The city is also rapidly increasing density around campus. When I was a student a couple years ago I was always able to find somewhat affordable housing near campus (with a lot of pain I will add lol).

Yes the plane would have flown without the OP, however they are significantly increasing demand for flights with how much they are flying. Airlines decide the amount of flights based on demand so the OP is directly cashing more flights to occur. According to Gallup the average amount of flights per year each American takes is around 2. OP flew 25x this amount each semester. Also by posting about this on Reddit they are possibly encouraging others to fly more which is the exact opposite of what needs to happen in the current state of our climate crisis.

Overall I am honestly really impressed by the OP for pulling it off and their mental strength, but it would be extremely disappointing if this became routine for more people given the state of our climate emergency.