By: Fateha Syed

Gas prices have been steadily rising in recent weeks, raising worries of oil supply shortages and delays. Gas prices are now almost 40 cents per gallon more than their original price.

Nowadays, mostly everyone uses some sort of transportation that uses gas. The change has put new drivers and students on notice.  

 “The gas prices have definitely affected my decisions. I now think before driving places and worry about how many miles [away] the destination is based on how much gas I have left,” said Mt. Hebron junior Katherine Millen. Not only does Millen drive, but she also pays for her own gas with the money she makes from her job. 

Kay Rosario, a senior at Mt. Hebron, considers herself to be more fortunate as she claims that her car doesn’t take up much gas.

 “My car conserves gas so I fill up every two weeks so I am lucky. I know others that have to get gas every two days which is horrible,” said Rosario. While Rosario has better luck and is not as affected as the others, she thinks that the prices will eventually go down because governors/mayors are not in favor of people paying $5 per gallon. 

Some people prefer to fill their gas up before the mileage gets too low to prevent any worst-case scenarios. 

“My car gets good gas mileage. I tend to run it until it’s almost empty. Although that is just me and not my car affecting the amount of mileage left, it is still helpful because then I use every amount of gas that I have and I do not have to fill it up until needed,” explained Mt. Hebron junior Joshua Munns.

Jobs are beneficial and important in this situation, especially if your parents are making it your responsibility to pay for your car’s gas. Although Mt. Hebron junior Preston Henry does not work at the moment, he still has a way to pay for his gas. 

“When I had a job, I used to put the money in my bank account and have been saving up ever since. Any money I get, I always save a portion for emergencies and I think that is the smartest thing to do because you never know what can happen and you should always be prepared for the worst,” said Henry.

On March 18, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed an emergency bipartisan legislation. This legislation was targeted to lower the gas prices by suspending the Maryland gas tax for 30 days. Even though this was not a major change, it still helped lower the gas prices. 

Even though many are stressed due to the sudden increase in gas prices, it is difficult to determine where gas prices go from here.