With the price of gasoline topping $3 a gallon, students say they are feeling the pinch.
NE student Sean Regan said gas prices prompted him to seek a second job.
Casey Holder/The Collegian
“Along with doing 13 hours here [NE Campus] and a 20-hour job already, I’m looking for a second one with 20 hours so I can get more money,” he said. “It’s definitely one of the major causes.”
Most college students already have a tight budget and buying gas empties their wallets even quicker.
The amount of gas used to drive to class versus staying at home for an online class can be significant, especially for students who have to travel to more than one campus. Students who don’t leave early enough for a class can also be disadvantaged by driving around the school parking lot looking for a parking spot.
Daniel Arellano said as a youth pastor at his church in Benbrook, a human resources employee at the University of Texas at Arlington and a student on NE Campus, gas prices affect him greatly.
“I try to conserve driving as much as possible, which is why I moved near my church because I used to live in Arlington,” he said. “I can only do classes Tuesday and Thursday, and this is the one [campus] that offered that schedule.”
Thomas Peoples, another NE student, said he used to run errands in between classes, but now, he doesn’t want to waste his gas.
“On top of paying for bills and school payments, you have to pay for gas, and it’s just a tax for living basically,” he said. “It’s something that you normally wouldn’t take into consideration, but because of the prices being so high, it causes you to alter your lifestyle.”
Until prices go down, students are forced to do what they must do to get to class.
“It’s a service [gas] we need, and I’ll pay for it,” Arellano said.
— Frankie Farrar-Helm
