An unconventional route

By Cole Deutschendorf / Staff Writer

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Everyone makes hundreds of decisions everyday, whether it’s having pancakes for breakfast instead of waffles, or wearing blue shoes instead of red ones.

Decisions shape lives, some more than others.

Money plays a factor in a large amount of those decisions. This is the case for Hutchinson Community College freshmen Brayden Bruner and Zane Jacques.

Bruner, from Hesston, and Jacques, from Haven, have both chosen to commute from outside of Hutchinson to go to school. While on paper their decision may appear to be of the same nature, they are commuting for different reasons.

Jacques, who is studying for an agricultural degree, plans on moving into Hutch as soon as he can with four friends, all from Haven. The problem, however, is that the purchase of the house, which was by Jacques’ aunt, has been a long, drawn out process.

“We were supposed to move in at the start of school, but it didn’t work out that way,” Jacques said. “Living in Haven would save me a ton of time.”

The anticipation of moving into a house with his friends has sparked excitement in Jacques, but for now, he is OK with making the 20-minute, one-way drive every school day.

“We’ve all seen the house, and all we can do is picture us living together,” Jacques said. “But at the same time, I’m saving money right now, and I work on our farm, so I can just walk out the back door.”

Bruner, who plans on becoming a chiropractor in the future, has taken a more conventional approach to commuting from off campus. For him, money was the largest part of his decision to live off campus.

“I wanted to save money, because even though gas costs a fairly large amount, it doesn’t end up being that much compared to living on campus,” Bruner said.

Despite the fact that he has to wake up early every day , Bruner looks at it with a different perspective.

“Being realistic, I’m most likely going to have to wake up early later in my life to go to work anyways, so getting up early now isn’t the worst thing in the world,” he said.

While both of their situations are different, both Bruner and Jacques agree on one thing – they appreciate still getting to live with their parents for a little while longer.

“My mom still spoils me a little bit,” Jacques said with a smile.

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