Karla Kennedy-Hagan values the time she has to herself during her commute to and from Champaign.

Kennedy-Hagan, assistant professor of family and consumer sciences and dietetic internship coordinator, is one of the many Eastern staff and faculty members who makes the 50-minute commute from Champaign.

To cut the costs of a regular commute, some make the plans to carpool.

Kennedy-Hagan said she carpools with about 10 professors at different times so they can work around each other’s schedules.

She said she enjoys the commute as a time to wind down on her way home from work before returning to her role as a full-time mother and wife.

Kennedy-Hagan said the ride goes by faster with company.

“It’s like a group of girlfriends, and we chit chat on the way,” Kennedy-Hagan said.

She said the commute is time-consuming, but it is not time wasted.

The professors in her carpool talk about different issues on the way or have different things to work on in the car, Kennedy- Hagan said.

Fern Kory, an English professor, said she likes to have a “commuting buddy” as well.

She said she and her buddy, Linda Coleman, take turns driving.

Kory said she enjoys talking with Coleman on the commute or listening to books on tape if she’s driving alone.

She describes the trip as the “easiest commute in the country” because she said it takes an hour from her kitchen to her office at any time on any day.

She said when she’s at school, she tries to get everything done that she needs to so she won’t have to make another trip.

“It’s not as big of a deal as I thought it would be,” Kory said.

But why do professors choose to live in Champaign instead of Charleston?

For Kennedy-Hagan, she and her husband moved there before she started teaching at Eastern. She said they stayed because her husband works at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and her kids were already settled there.

Kory also said she moved up there for her family.

She said her family originally moved to Champaign because one of her children was accepted to a school there, and she decided that she should commute instead of her child.

Kennedy-Hagan said the commute is a fairly easy one.

“If you live in Chicago, it could take an hour to go three miles,” Kennedy-Hagan said.

She said as long as she thinks positively, the commute isn’t bad.

Sara Cuadrado can be reached at 581-7942 or at slcuadrado@eiu.edu.