Column: Schuttler likes to be off campus sometimes
by Tyler Peterson
edited by Paul Lambert and Chris Gibbons
It’s a cool early morning, the sunlight peeking out from behind the forest. Junior Violet Schuttler rushes out of her house to get to Franklin Pierce.
Schuttler lives off campus with her pug, Mymble, in Rindge, NH. Her house is a round plexi-glass structure, like an igloo, down an old dirt road.
(Photo: Tyler Peterson)
According to Schuttler, commuting can be fun but a challenge when attending Franklin Pierce, especially with bad conditions in the winter and not enough spaces to park. Schuttler recently got a new car, a Toyota Yaris.
Schuttler said, “It sucks in the wintertime. My car is not the best, I have snow tires now. I’m not used to having snow tires, so I’ll have to skip class sometimes because it just wasn’t canceled and then I just could not come in. Didn’t want to drive my car to get into an accident.”
Parking can be a challenge with not enough spaces. If Schuttler is running late it is easiest to park in DiGregorio because there are plenty of spots available. “I walk up the hill and like to hide the fact that I’m, like, dying and I can’t breathe from all the walking.”
Despite these struggles, Schuttler likes to be able to not worry about other people. When asked about the rewarding part of being a commuter, Schuttler said, “It’s nice to be able to separate yourself from the college campus life sometimes.”
Some of the rewards of being a commuter include more personal space and being able to get away from school. When coming to Franklin Pierce, Schuttler was able to move into a house close to her grandparents. Schuttler said, “It’s on our side road and then there is a one-minute walk up the road so that’s kind of nice because I’m not completely far away from everyone.”
While there are disadvantages of living off campus, she is overall happy with her current status as a commuter at Franklin Pierce.
