Terrier Bucks are an interesting aspect of life at Wofford. The average student gets $270 dollars a year to spend before the year is over at about five restaurants and a few spots on campus, while those living in the Senior Village get $400 a semester.

But how does the Terrier Buck system, even if it only covers a couple of hundred dollars a year, affect the experience of a Wofford student?

The “Wofford Bubble” is a term used by many to conceptualize the divide that exists between the student body and Spartanburg as a system.

The term is meant to designate how students are almost placed in a bubble, separated from the outside world that is Spartanburg.

However, this divide does not have to be the case and could likely come down to how students experience their first year on campus. When easy and cheap entertainment can only be found inside friends’ dorms, fraternity houses and Senior Village house parties, there is little incentive for these new students, who are likely new to Spartanburg too, to go out and try new places.

There is an exception to this rule, which seems to be the popular restaurants among what is offered on the Terrier Bucks list. Thus, restaurants like Cribbs and RJ Rockers become a regular part of the after-class or weekend experience for many Wofford students.

I would like to say that this limited exploration is in part fueled by the ability of students to use the money that is limited to the end of the school year.

If we accept this conclusion, then it can reasonably follow that the Terrier Buck system is an incentive structure that could be put to a much more expansive use than it currently is.

This might cause a few logistical problems to solve along the way, but it could be beneficial to the liberal arts learning experience of Wofford.

The first step towards this is what students have been asking for for years: more restaurant options. Expanding the list is obviously not as easy as just putting the restaurants on the Wofford website, but expanding flavor pallets is an important step in growth that a good college town can significantly shape.

Right now the offered meals include four American-style foods: one pizza chain, one barbeque joint and two dinner-style restaurants, as well as one Asian food option with Lime Leaf. This is not exactly as diverse as possible for a city with multiple styles of Asian, Latin American and other international cuisines within walking distance of the campus.

Expanding the options could mean that students learn more about Jamaican or Middle-eastern food or possibly try those cuisines for the first time ever.

But the bubble is not just restaurants; it’s the division between the student body and the Spartanburg community as a whole.

While I may know about what happens in the city, I see fairly few students regularly breaking this barrier other than students that grew up here or those in sociology or similar majors working on community projects.

There are many festivals throughout the year in which Wofford partnerships could allow students to get discounted rates or use Terrier Bucks in order to give more incentive to go to such events, the recent Cribbs Burger Cook-Off or Spring-Fling being a great example.

Overall, the Spartanburg area is small but can offer a good extended learning environment for students if we just give them the incentive structure to be a greater part of it or leave the Wofford bubble earlier in their freshmen years.

I don’t have all the answers for what should be done, but I think giving students more options to use what has already made them explore a little bit could mean that Wofford Students become even more well-rounded by graduation, further exemplifying Wofford’s liberal arts mission.