Zach Anderson

College students are busy people. With class, homework, papers and projects to do, they do not always have time to support school athletics and go to games.

The life of a college student is hard; they stay up late, get up early, go to class and then do whatever homework the teachers decide to throw at them. Everyone who is or has been a student knows all too much about the tough lifestyle.

It could be that many students on campus have a 10-page paper due the day after the Jacks game, or they stayed up late the night before and just want to take a nap instead of going to the game. There are several reasons why students do not show up at games.

All of the outside influences that put stress on students create obstacles that make it hard for students to prioritize between doing homework and going to games. After all, some students, though they might be fans of SDSU athletics, are in college to get good grades, so they can get into medical school or earn their bachelor’s degree.

Besides the daily grind of class and homework, students need to find time to study for tests and quizzes that are usually a weekly occurrence. If students study one hour for every hour of class they attend, then that leaves very little time for students to attend games.

A football game usually lasts three hours, and a basketball game around two hours. That is a big time commitment for some students who do not have that kind of free time. Going to games requires free time that many college students do not think they have.

Another huge reason students do not attend games is because many of them have jobs. College is not cheap, and those that do not want to take out a loan to pay for tuition and a place to live need to work, sometimes even full time. Although SDSU students can get into games on campus with their student ID for free, some colleges’ students have to pay to get into games even with their student IDs.

Some people just are not interested in sports. Maybe they dislike football, or maybe they are unattached to the sport of volleyball. Whatever it is, some students may choose not to attend due to their disinterest in sports.

Some students also commute to campus from other towns and may not live close by.

“I commute from Sioux Falls, so it is really hard for me to go to games. Most nights I have to go home and work,” Shane Eberhard, junior geographic information systems major, said. “I would like to go to more games but it is difficult with my schedule.”

If students have a long drive home, it is less likely that they will have the time to stay in Brookings for games, since most of them take place at night and that makes for a long day.

Whatever the reason students choose not to go to games, it is a choice they make. They might be behind in their homework or have three tests the day after the game. Students are busy people and sometimes do not have time to go to games even if they might want to.