If you thought the drive up Arastradero to reach the Gunn parking lot was bad, try talking to a few teachers about their commutes. Many members of the Gunn faculty live a significant distance from school, and they deal with everything from early alarm clocks to gridlock traffic to get to work on time.

Social studies teacher Faith Hilal lives in Morgan Hill, which is approximately 40 miles from Palo Alto. She says that her usual morning commute takes 45 minutes to an hour on average, and that her afternoon commute is often worse. “If I leave right after school, it’s about an hour,” she said. “If I leave after [cheer leading] practice, it’s anywhere from an hour and fifteen minutes to two.”

Hilal says that her commute is the result of a compromise. “My husband works in Monterey,” she said. “We split the distance.” Despite the inconvenience, Hilal says she has never seriously considered taking a job closer to home. “We lived closer when I got this job,” she said. “We’re still hoping he’ll get a job closer, and then we’ll move back.”

Hilal moved to Morgan Hill in May of 2006, and since then she has had to adjust to some aspects of her lifestyle, namely her schedule and the expenses she pays for on the commute itself. “Gas is expensive, and [the long commute] just reduces time to do other things,” she said. “I have to get up at five, and I’m not a big fan of that. On days when we have a game I can’t go home, so I have to find something to do here.”

Several teachers, such as science teacher Casey O’Connell and social studies teacher Phil Lyons, commute from San Francisco. O’Connell lives in North Beach, San Francisco and has recently begun taking the train to Palo Alto. “I used to drive and it was stressful,” he said. “I don’t keep my car in San Francisco anymore. I keep it in Palo Alto at the station.”

O’Connell says that he enjoys all aspects of his commute, right down to the time he wakes up. “I wake up at five, which I like because I’m energetic by the time I see my students,” he said. The time that he spends on the train does not go to waste. “I get three hours of reading and pod casting,” he said. “I consider myself to be well read because of it, and I get a lot of things done that I wouldn’t do otherwise.”

Like Hilal, O’Connell says that his job makes the commute worthwhile, and that he has not considered taking a job closer to home. “I absolutely love where I live and where I work too, so it’s a worthy trade off for me,” he said. “I don’t see myself leaving [Gunn] for geographical reasons.”

Although Lyons also lives in San Francisco, he drives to school. Like O’Connell, Lyons chooses to live farther away from Gunn because he enjoys living in the city. “I was born in San Francisco,” he said. “I love the city, I love the food and the culture.”

Lyons originally worked at a school in San Francisco, but said he left because he could not get tenure. However, he never planned to live so far from his job. “I got the job here as a happy accident,” he said.

Lyons said he enjoys his morning commute. “I have half an hour to listen to NPR [National Public Radio] and plan lessons,” he said. However, he admits that there are some drawbacks to the long drive. He said that “being tired on the way home” is one of the biggest problems. “I constantly have to fight against falling asleep,” he said.

While he does use a lot of gas during the week, Lyons tries to be more ecologically friendly outside of his work commute. “I don’t like the fact that I’m contributing to global warming,” he said. “I try to make up for it by not using my car. I don’t drive in San Francisco.”

Lyons shares the same perspective as O’Connell and Hilal; working at Gunn makes the commute worthwhile. “The benefits are the kids,” he said. “I don’t go to work dreading the experience.” Lyons said he has found a good balance. “I live where I want and I work where I want,” he said.