OUCH! Higher Gas Prices Leave Students Feeling Empty at the Pumps

By HEATHER SCULLAWL/Talon Contributor

Higher gas prices are leaving some UT Tyler students frustrated and concerned.

Juanita Cardenas, a freshman, lives in Jacksonville and drives about 30 miles each way to and from college. She said she made changes in order to focus more on her studies but may now need to make more money. 

“I just quit my job so if gas prices continue to go up, I might have to go back to work and put more hours in, which would diminish my study time,” Cardenas said. 

A recent check of prices in Tyler found gas between about $4 per gallon and $3.73 per gallon. Prices change weekly. 

• Click here for AAA’s fuel-savings tips 

The website gasprices.aaa.com informs consumers of the rise and fall in gas prices. It covers every state in the United States. 

Bryson Schubert, an English major, said he fills his gas tank weekly and lives an hour from the university. According to Schubert, some people he knows are spending $50 every time they fill their tank. 

“It hurts the wallet, which hurts the free time and fun that you get to do,” Schubert said.

Schubert said he sympathizes with people who are stressed out because they are having to put more money aside for gas and thus having to change their budget accordingly.

“I feel for those people who may be in a worse situation than I am,” he said.

Hope Johnson, a junior majoring in education, said she worries about the rise in gas taking too much money out of her finances. Johnson, like Schubert, lives an hour away from the university. 

“Yesterday, I was filling up my tank and it hit $42 and I was like, ‘I don’t think I can let it get over that,’” Johnson said.

Cardenas said she, too, had the same reaction at the pump when the cost of filling up kept rising and rising. “It hits at $40 and I am like, ‘OK, you’ve had enough.’”

According to some news outlets, gas prices could rise up to $4.50 per gallon.