While it is not as common for William Jewell College students to live off campus, there are still many commuter students working and learning among us. Bryar Buhlig, junior digital media and communications major, has traveled to and from Jewell each weekday this school year and feels the “benefits far outweigh the negatives” when it comes to being a commuter student. Her busy schedule includes 18 hours of classes and two work-study jobs, but she feels being able to live at home has helped her feel less busy than when she lived on campus.

Here is an inside look at Bryar’s typical Wednesday:

6-6:30 a.m. – Wakes up and spends time in prayer, reading her bible and looking through emails and social media on her phone.

7-7:30 a.m. – Works out for around 45 minutes – usually strength training exercises, yoga or jogging.

8:15 a.m. – Breakfast

9 a.m. – Showers and gets ready for the day. Most days she listens to a podcast or music while getting ready.

10:45 a.m. – Leaves for class

11:05 a.m. – Arrives on campus

11:15 a.m. – Stage design class

12:30 p.m. – Marketing class

1:45 p.m. – Lunch

Most often Buhlig brings her lunch with her to campus, but she also often goes to the cage on Wednesdays. After eating, Buhlig goes to the theatre lounge to work on homework.

3 p.m. – Work-study in the theater

5 p.m. – Grabs a quick dinner in the cafeteria or just sits in the lounge working on something or looking at her phone.

5:30 p.m. – School and society class

8 p.m. – Heads home and gets ready to go to bed

9 p.m. – Streams a TV show

10-10:30 p.m. – Goes to bed

Buhlig, who has a theatre minor, is heavily involved in the Jewell Theater Company. She does work-study there as well as in the office of marketing as a social media assistant. For her commitments on campus there is always travel involved.

“I can’t always just go to every event at the drop of a hat like before, there is planning involved to make the time to come to campus to do the things there [are] to do,” said Buhlig of living off campus.

Even with this inconvenience, Buhlig enjoys living at home and feels it helps with stresses of college life. 

“One of the biggest positives is that it is much easier to find a relaxed environment,” said Buhlig. 

For her, living on campus made it difficult to separate the stress of school from a personal and social life, and leaving campus to go home and relax made it a lot easier to feel calm and more at peace with life’s daily stresses.

While Buhlig is an advocate for the commuter life, she does suggest that only those who live within a thirty-minute drive of campus should commute for the sake of convenience. But living just fifteen minutes away makes it a great choice for her.