Kara Christensen

Finding a $5 bill along Medary Ave. is one thing, but opening your mail to find a check for $263 is quite another. As federal tax refunds trickle toward SDSU, some students have already decided where their money will go.

For Junior Amber Haan, her first-ever tax refund will be well-spent this summer.

“It’s going toward the wedding fund, which I’m excited about,” she said. Haan’s money comes from her jobs with a learning center for kids and with assisted living.

Wedding bells will also ring for junior Jim Koch in June. A Minnesota resident, Koch will also receive a refund from his state income taxes, something South Dakota doesn’t have. How will he spend the extra dough?

“It’s going to pay for the honeymoon,” he said.

Using tax refund money for vacations sounds like a good idea to sophomore Jon Waltjer, too.

“I’m going to go to Cancun next year for our winter break,” Waltjer said. “It’ll pay for part of it.”

Freshman Jamie Noren swiped groceries in the checkout line for her job last year. She plans to put her refund check into the bank. When asked if she’d rather not see her tax refund money taken out in the first place, Noren said she didn’t really care.

“But I think the extra check is kind of nice sometimes,” she said.

Freshman Kristofer Bahr agreed.

“I like having the check at the end,” Bahr said. “It’s kind of like a bonus.”

For some students, paying off debts is a good way to spend the delayed cash. A Papa Murphy’s employee, Bahr will use his refund to pay off his credit card. His friend, Wyatt Cole, has a similar plan.

Cole, a freshman, works at Fergen’s in Brookings. His money will go towards his account at the men’s clothing store. Although he agrees with Bahr that using the refund to pay bills is a good idea, he disagrees about getting a check at the end.

“I’d rather they just give it to me” right away, Cole said. However, he understands the need for taxes.

“I’m fine with taxes,” he said. “It’d be nice if we didn’t have sales tax though, like on clothes. That adds up.”

This time, it was Bahr’s turn to disagree.

“[Taxes are] way too high,” he said.