Don’t have a car and need to buy something at the store? Maybe you are itching to go on a little shopping trip? Saint Leo University may be able to help you with that. Every month, the Saint Leo University campus offers free rides to local stores such as Walmart and Target.
Raphael Lohner, an MBA in human resources concentration major, year 2015, shares his experience using the transportation offered by Saint Leo University to go to local shopping centers. Mr. Lohner stated that at that time he did not have a car and he did not have a way to go out and get groceries. He found the information online and reserved a seat on a van. The van took Mr. Lohner and other students to the Walmart in Zephyrhills. The overall trip took about two hours and allowed every student enough time to get what they came for.
Mr. Lohner is very pleased with the opportunity Saint Leo gave him and the other students who do not have cars saying, “I was just super glad there was a possibility to get to a store from here because, without a car, you can be pretty stuck here on the campus sometimes. It was just a grocery trip; nothing really special happened, but it served its purpose.”
When asked if he would use the campus vans again, Mr. Lohner answered, “Of course! If I had the need to; right now I own a car so it’s a little bit different for me, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have a car and I think it is a great idea to do this.”
There are two ways one can find dates and times for these trips: (1) there are information calendars all over campus that lists special events like the trip to Orlando Premium Outlets Saturday the 12th of Sept., Cookies, Coffee, and Conversation Wednesday the 16th of Sept., and-guess what?- shopping trips! (2) One can also find dates and times at saintleotickets.com. Seating is limited, so to obtain a seat on a van, one will need to RSVP and buy tickets online. Tickets are FREE! Although, when ordering tickets, it will say “purchase ticket” the dollar amount listed will be $0.00.
There are usually trips once a month, but in busy seasons they are scheduled twice a month. All vans leave from Campus Security and Safety. Vans tend to leave around 5:30pm and return by 7:30 or 8 pm. If there is any trouble finding the information online, Assistant Director of Student Activities, Ms. Tara Centeno welcomes students to visit her office located in the Student Activities Building, room number 114 or e-mail her at tara.centeno@saintleo.edu. If someone wants to plan ahead for future dates that have not been posted yet, such as dates for Oct., Nov., and Dec., Ms. Centeno has the most current, up to date times.
Ms. Centeno commented saying, “We have so many new student who are coming in; a lot of them don’t have cars. Some of them do, but there is a lot who don’t, and for them they’re like, ‘I need to make friends with people who have cars.’ Well you can and that’s great, we want you to make friends but yeah, [students]can take advantage of the free [rides Saint Leo’s offers].”
