Buda in Texas?

By Laura McFarland
Skiff Staff

When she left her small hometown of Buda, Renee Esparza had no wish to return for any reason except to visit her parents. Now, the junior interior design major wishes she could leave TCU just as far behind as she left Buda.

In recent years, a number of developers have come to the small town, located 17 miles from downtown Austin. New developments in the area include three new subdivisions and a couple of food processing plants. Most of the citizens who live in Buda drive to work in Austin every day.

“It’s growing more and more,” Esparza said. “So if you want to live in a small town, soon it won’t be that place.”

The town itself is filled mostly with antique shops and small businesses. Esparza said that despite the town’s growth, Buda has remained a one-stoplight town.“You can see all the stars at night,” Esparza said. “It’s a really beautiful place to visit.”

Rather than going to the schools shared with the city of Kyle, Esparza traveled to Austin to attend a private school. Even though she doesn’t regret growing up in Buda, Esparza said that she doesn’t miss the small town at all.

“We had parties in fields in high school,” she said. “It’s not a place where you’d want to spend the rest of your life.”

Esparza said TCU is not a place she likes to spend time either. In fact, she said she avoids it whenever she can.

“I try to stay off campus as much as possible,” she said. “I’m not a very school-oriented person.”

Esparza said it’s not the classes she doesn’t like, but the other students.

“I like my classes,” Esparza said. “The professors are excellent, but the people around here, I don’t get along with. They’re too conservative.”

Esparza said she prefers hanging out with older friends who don’t go to TCU. Esparza said she decided to attend TCU because the university had a program she thought she was interested in.

“I was a movement science major until last semester,” Esparza said. “Movement science wasn’t something I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing.”

Instead, Esparza said she decided to become an interior design major, which will add an extra three years of college. She intends to transfer to Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos and live in Austin until she graduates.

Esparza said most of her time is spent working at Michael’s Restaurant and Ancho Chili Bar, which serves upscale southwestern cuisine. In her spare time, Esparza said she likes going to see live music, camping and traveling.

For the past five months, Esparza has been saving up to take a trip to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in June. She plans on staying in youth hostels while she visits the museums and looks at the architecture. As for her future, Esparza said she has not decided on any definite after-college plans.

“I want to travel and see the world, find someplace to settle, get a job and do all that womanly stuff,” Esparza said.

Laura McFarland
l.m.mcfarland@student.tcu.edu