Some students complain about campus construction adding two minutes to their walk to class while others spend more than an hour driving to school.

Senior Eleanor DeGoffau leaves her home in Lansing no later than 7:45 a.m. to make it to her 9 a.m. class.

“I will listen to audiobooks, podcasts, sometimes I’ll call my friends or parents along the drive as well, or sometimes I’ll just use that time to think, pray, and process,” DeGoffau said.

Many married students who live outside of Hillsdale city limits say their distance from campus does hinder their ability to live a regular college life, but say they instead chose to prioritize marriage and family life. Students say they don’t mind the commute and have found different ways to pass the time while driving.

​DeGoffau lived on campus for her first three years of college but moved to Lansing after getting married last summer. She commutes to Hillsdale three days a week, spending Tuesdays and Thursdays at home studying.​

DeGoffau said she mostly listened to audiobooks on her drives to campus last semester, finishing the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.​

“I am listening to podcasts right now because I can’t decide what book I’m going to start in the future,” DeGoffau said. “I would like to read Anna Karenina, and I’m trying to decide if that’s an audiobook-worthy book, but that’s one that’s next on my list.”​

Senior Claire Bowers lives on the outskirts of Osseo and has a 20-minute commute, leaving her house 30 minutes before classes start. She said she prefers a quiet drive with an occasional podcast.​

“I don’t always like to have anything happen in the car because I can use that time to decompress when I’m driving home and reset my brain for the day,” Bowers said. “Or in the morning, sometimes I use it for prayer time. But lately I’ve been listening to a podcast about a lot of American historical characters.”​

Husband and father of two kids, senior Nathan Scoffield, also living in Osseo, has commuted to campus all four years. Scoffield said he sometimes eats breakfast on his morning drive, usually sitting in silence. If he does listen to something, it is audiobooks or scripture.​

Scoffield said living away from campus and balancing home and family responsibilities with his college studies hinders his ability to have a regular college life.​

“It is hard to cultivate friendships because virtually all of my time on campus is either spent studying or in class,” Scoffield said.

Bowers said she considered how the distance would affect her friendships after living on campus for three years.​

“When you are in the dorm, you kind of become almost like sisters when you are constantly living together,” Bowers said. “But then you start developing a different kind of friendship when you’re living apart.”

But, Bowers said, moving off campus has affected her friendships in a different way than she expected. 

“I’ve actually seen it grow and strengthen some of my friendships,” Bowers said. “You do have that time to be on your own, but then you have that time to come back together and really enjoy Hillsdale life together.”​

DeGoffau said her professors’ flexibility has made the challenges of commuting much easier.​

“Part of what makes this possible is having professors who are really understanding if there is winter weather and it’s unsafe on the roads and I decide it’s too unsafe for me to come down,” DeGoffau said. “It’s really helpful to have professors who care about that.”​

Bowers agreed with DeGoffau, saying she has experienced road and family issues this year, and her professors have accommodated her absences. As long as you continue to pull your weight and try to come to campus, Bowers said, professors are willing to work with you.​

“I live on a really small dirt road in the middle of nowhere that rarely gets plowed out in the winter,” Bowers said. “So if I can’t get out, the professors are very understanding. The other day, my husband was really sick to where I had to stay home with him because he couldn’t get out of bed, and they were like, ‘Absolutely, do what you have to do. We understand family life.’”​

DeGoffau said her participation in college life has changed but not because of her move to Lansing but because she has prioritized marriage and family life.​

“I think a lot of people will hear that I live so far away and their initial thought is ‘Oh, but you miss so much,’ and that’s not true,” DeGoffau said. “I do miss out on a lot of nightlife and some events with friends, but I’ve wanted to prioritize starting my family. So I think I have enjoyed my time participating in college life, and I still get to often, but I’m glad I get to be in this stage of life, as well as being in college.”​

As someone who is also newly married, Bowers said her involvement in college life decreased gradually. Since arriving at Hillsdale, she has been ready to live on her own, and Bowers said living in a dorm and later in an on-campus house helped prepare her for off-campus life.

“I feel like it’s been kind of a natural transition,” Bowers said. “I was worried I would be less and less involved in an unhealthy sort of way, but I haven’t been. It has been a nice and welcome transition into an independent adult life.”​

Scoffield added that his family life in particular is a source of joy for him and helps keep his college studies grounded within the context of real life.​

“I get to go home every day to my beautiful wife and two boys,” Scoffield said. “Family life has been very rich and satisfying and on days when I’m thinking clearly, I feel I have won the lottery of life.”