While some Kent State students travel out of state for spring break vacations, others struggle to afford a way home.

According to Kent State’s Institutional Research website, about 4,000 Kent State students have permanent addresses out of state .

Kent State has four major breaks during the school year. During these breaks, students such as Rachel Holcomb, a sophomore theatre studies major, find themselves struggling to find the time and money to get home.

“My family and I both don’t really have the time to make a six-hour drive for a visit home, and money for a plane ticket just isn’t in my budget,” Holcomb said. “The biggest issue is making a full tank last the whole way home.”

Rebecca O’Connell, a junior criminology and justice studies major, said she finds comfort in knowing that although Kent State is far from home and having kind friends and helpful professors makes the distance worth it.

“I miss my dog and my mom’s home-cooked meals the most when I’m away at school, said O’Connell. “Being home is my comfort zone, but Kent State allows me to break out of that zone and be a whole new me. It is like a home away from home.”

However, she doesn’t mind going back to her hometown of Chicago. 

“Fortunately for me, my parents decided that they enjoyed my presence enough to make the drive from Chicago to Kent to get me,” she said. “Going to school out of state is positive in aspects of being independent, but it is negative in terms of missing the feeling of being at home.” 

Kennedy Caldwell is the commuters and apartment life reporter, contact her at [email protected].