Kelsi Nelson

Choices. Decisions. you make them everyday–you press the snooze button five times or four, go fishing every day this week or only six, watch ESPN or Trading Spaces, start the research paper in advance or wait until the week of finals. Big or small, important or trivial, all of these decisions affect your life.

Being active and staying fit is just that, a choice. In high school, staying active was usually easy to do. There was always a lot of choices .

Now in college, you might be asking yourself what you could do here. The beginning of the year can seem overwhelming, especially for new students. With buying books, scrambling to classes, meeting new people, and different activities going on all around you, it takes some effort and a little courage to get yourself out there doing something. And you might not always know all of the options they have at college.

Intramurals are a great way to stay involved in the activities that you love, and quite simply, they are fun. The intramural department offers fall activities in softball (slow and fast pitch), flag football, golf, tennis, volleyball, racquetball, basketball, badminton, and wrestling. There are also sports clubs that you can participate in such as soccer, women’s and men’s rugby, and women’s and men’s ice hockey.

Mike Berhow, a junior English education major, is active in intramural flag football and softball.

“It’s fun to be competitive with people, stay in shape, and it’s a good way to keep my pipes big.” Berhow said.

Activities do require a $15 deposit, which is payable through hobo dough, only. The deposit is refundable, though, if you go to the manager’s meeting and if your team does not forfeit games. The intramural office, located in HPER 123, is also looking for people to referee for softball or flag football.

Besides intramurals, the Wellness Center at the HPER is also available. Use of the track, free weight room, basketball courts, and pool are all free with your student ID card. If you want to take some aerobics or spinning classes, the Wellness Center provides a wide variety. In order to take these classes, a Cardio Card is required, which you can purchase for $18/month or $60/semester.

SDSU’s campus also has lots of opportunities for outdoor fun. Students can find sand volleyball courts outside of Waneta and Hansen Hall. Wide open spaces allow for many other games, like catch or frisbee.

Being active has benefits–meeting new people, releasing stress, and staying in shape are a few. Leah Bartscher, a pharmacy student, believes that it is important for her to stay in shape because she is in the medical field. She says she also sees firsthand the problems that can result from a lack of activity. Leah wakes up early to run or work out, and says it helps her feel good about herself.

There are a ton of options to choose from, and these are certainly not the end-all. Do whatever it is you love to do, and have fun with it. And don’t forget to take full advantage of SDSU’s athletic opportunities.

#1.886076:1803415647.jpg:fitness shot.jpg:SDSU athlete/students work out in the weight room at HPER.: