While most students on campus live in dorms or apartments, there are a few who have explored alternative living arrangements. Junior Ciara Roberts spends her free time renovating a bus she has named Sweet Willow in preparation for life after college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roberts said she looked to this living arrangement because renting is expensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had to work extra while at work to pay my rent, so I\u2019m like, \u2018You know what, let me do this, and I won\u2019t have rent and it\u2019ll be exactly like I want, and I like to travel during the summers, and I can do this in a different way,\u2019\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roberts said she plans to attend graduate school, so with this bus, she will have a home no matter where she goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many people are drawn to the idea of \u201cvan life\u201d because it provides a freedom that owning a home does not, according to alumnus Zane Fowler, who spent a summer living in an RV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHaving the ability to take your home with you wherever you want gives you so many opportunities to do close to whatever you want, and living in a world now with teleworking and online school, you really could do whatever, wherever,\u201d Fowler said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While many people use RVs and vans, Roberts said she chose a bus for the durability and extra room. Senior Sam Westbrook, who would like to pursue van life after college, said there is a large online community for people who choose this lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people who are more like me, who just kind of like the idea of doing it, and then there\u2019s an actual community of people who have done it,\u201d Westbrook said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roberts has been working on Sweet Willow since she got the bus in July 2020 and has been living in the bus since November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would love to have it finished before winter because living in it with it unfinished this past winter was pretty miserable,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior Miles Tumbleson, who is currently living in a van, said the hardest things to get used to were the cold in the winter and the constant noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWaking up in the morning when it\u2019s cold is very difficult,\u201d Tumbleson said. \u201cIf there are any loud cars that drive by or if it rains or anything that\u2019s remotely noisy, it usually wakes me up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the difficulties, Fowler, Westbrook and Roberts all said it is an overall enjoyable experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy favorite part [of renovating the bus] is just doing the designing and getting other people\u2019s perspectives and seeing the maximum potential for the bus,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAnyone can do it \u2014 I really believe that \u2014 and there\u2019s always people who are willing to help because it\u2019s such a cool project.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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