For some Adams State students, finances, training and travel restrictions keep them in Alamosa
By Brianna Robles | For Alamosa Citizen
AFTER a long semester most students look forward to finishing off their final exams and saying goodbye to school for a few weeks before the spring semester begins. I know I certainly look forward to taking a break from writing essays, waking up early, and trying to manage my time with all the tasks that I get filled with during the school year.
During the break, students take a break from the small town of Alamosa and head home to be with their loved ones for the holidays. However, this isn’t the case for all students. Even as the semester comes to an end, not all students can just pack their bags and leave as some of these students have other priorities that keep them in town even during the holidays.
Many students on campus look forward to being able to travel home and be with their families and catch them up on what they have missed out on in the past couple months. It is time that is much needed since they have been away from that aspect of our lives since August. But not everyone gets this luxury.
Some students on campus have to make the tough decision to stay in town. Lucio Rios, who is in his fourth year at Adams State said, “One reason I stay in town on the holidays is because of work. I need to be able to make money to pay off school.”
Rios has stayed back each year because he had to make the decision that will benefit him as he needs money in order to be able to stay on track to finish school. This task is a difficult one as Rios says, “It’s pretty hard to be away from my family for so long. It definitely takes a toll on my mental health.”
These are certain aspects of college that we don’t often stop to consider. In life we all know that there are choices and sacrifices that we must make, but when it comes to
Lucio Rios
the holiday seasons, we often focus more on the good rather than the struggles and challenges students encounter.
We are all used to a constant routine, especially as students. Once classes begin, we get used to a cycle that we follow each and every day that is pretty tedious then the semester ends, and we finally get to breathe and unwind – but that’s not the case for everyone.
Erin Stonebarger, who is a student-athlete in her fourth year at Adams State says, “The main reason I haven’t been home is because I have a job and couldn’t leave and COVID restrictions have made it difficult to travel back home to Japan.”
Being able to travel home hasn’t been as easy as it has been in the past. Now with COVID there are certain precautions that have been implemented, especially if students live outside of the country. But as the holidays begin to approach, it begins to take a toll on students, especially Stonebarger.
“I definitely get sad when I hear about people seeing loved ones for the holidays,” she says. “I get a little bit jealous. In my ideal reality, if my family lived so much closer, I would go home for the holidays and long weekends.”
For some students it may be easy to pack a bag and take a quick trip home. But for others, this might not always be the case. Some students on campus make the choice to stay even if their home is close in range because they have goals in mind for themselves.
Davonte Jett-Reynolds has high expectations for himself as a student-athlete who is a part of the Adams State Cross Country team. He says the main reason he stays in town is because “staying in town for break gives me the privilege to have a good training block going into this indoor season in order to be able to chase excellence.”
College is definitely a place for students to venture out and make something for themselves, and the position that Jett-Reynolds finds himself in gives him the opportunity to be one of the best runners in
Davonte Jett-Reynolds
the country as Adams State is well-known for its stellar cross country and track program.
Some students have goals and ambitions that they want to accomplish and even as some may find it difficult to be away from their family Jett-Reynolds says, “I’m adopted so I don’t find it very hard to be away from family and also my family is very understanding of what I’m doing and why I am doing it.”
College life seems to have a large panel of individuals who came to Alamosa for different reasons. Even as the holidays approach these students, among others, all have different visions and different challenges in life that as young adults they battle to deal with on their own.
Considering that Alamosa is a small town, it still creates a community for students to live, dream, believe, and overcome anything even when sometimes in life they have to make sacrifices for themselves like not being able to go home for the holidays.
