While some students wake up and walk to their classes that is not the case for Lauren Gille. Gille is a commuter student who attends Quincy University. She is a transfer junior and is majoring in biological sciences and pre-physical therapy.

Gille actually lives off campus at home in Mendon, Illinois. Day to day she drives back and forth to Quincy, Illinois for her classes and work.

“It’s about a 25-minute drive,” Gille said. “Sometimes I like the drive and sometimes I don’t. The drive is kind of relaxing, but it is also a hassle.”

Mondays are Gille’s busiest days out of the week. Her day begins around 7:30 a.m. to get ready and give her plenty of time to get to town.

“I always leave like 40 minutes early for class,” Gille said. “My first class starts at 10:10 a.m. on Mondays. Even though it only takes me 25 minutes I always like to be here a little earlier. Main Campus is actually a lot longer to get to compared to North Campus. Sometimes I’m almost late when coming to Main Campus.”

Then Gille goes to her classes which consist of kinesiology and anatomy.

“My anatomy has been all online but if we do have an in-person class I would go straight to that which that’s at North Campus,” Gille said. “Otherwise, I have this 15-minute break between classes and that’s when I usually go work out.”

With back-to-back classes Gille finds herself finding ways to pass time. Between classes she tries to go to the Health and Fitness Center and get a workout in. Sometimes she goes and sits in the Student Lounge located in Francis Hall which is on Main Campus. In the lounge Gille has a quiet place to sit and study. Or because classes are back to back, Gille doesn’t have time to go home. So, she will sometimes eat her lunch there.

“Sometimes I get Qdoba or Jimmy Johns because it’s close,” Gille said. “Or I’ll bring my own lunch and eat it in the student lounge, or I’ll just eat in my car between classes.”

How Gille spends the rest of her day after classes can differ. Some days she just heads back home after her classes. Other days she will head to either of her two jobs.

“If I work, I schedule it, so I have 30 minutes of downtime and then I’ll go straight to work,” Gille said. “So, every Wednesday and Friday I will just go straight to work right after class gets out. I work at a boutique here in town called Jeni’s Boutique and then also at the store TJMAXX.”

This is a small insight to what a day in the life looks like for one Quincy University commuter student.