By Joce DeWitt

We are now in week 8 of winter term. This means many things to the hard working students of OSU, but to a large fraction, one of the biggest implications is that basketball intramural season is in full-swing.

I would like to talk to you, CLA prospects and students alike, about getting involved in Intramurals. I’m a major proponent for this type of involvement for many reasons.

1)     Stay in shape AND have fun. While playing in a game once a week may not seem like a big deal, let me assure you that the extra time for exercise in a team sport always seems to come at the right time. I know with my extremely busy schedule, it is tough to maintain a consistent work-out and gym schedule, so for me its an obvious decision to join an IM sport just for that reason alone. But wait, there’s more…

2)    Get to know people you’re around all the time in a different setting. In the past, I’ve always joined Intramural teams with my friends who I know from outside of class and work. But this term, I went in a different direction when I agreed to join the IM Basketball team with the editorial staff of the Daily Barometer (I’m the news editor and I would have felt extremely out of place at work if I hadn’t.) Being able to play a sport and have fun on the court with people I’m usually used to only seeing in the office has made this term so much more fun in a lot of ways. The fact that we are yet to lose a game (3-0… I know… we’re a big deal) gives us so much more to talk about other than work in the office. Maybe it might not help with our production level, but having more fun and camaraderie at work is always worth it.

3)    Brush up on a skill you lost since high school. Since I went to a really small private school, I played basketball, volleyball, soccer and track all four years. When I got to college, I thought that because I wasn’t on a varsity team anymore I wouldn’t get the chance to be competitive and I would lose all my sports abilities. Thanks to IM’s I haven’t lost it. Not to mention, playing is more for fun now than it ever was in high school because it’s not an official league.

For these reasons and more, I recommend anyone look into playing an IM sport while they’re at OSU. Thousands of student fees and funds go into making the facilties amazing (like the new IM fields in front of Dixon) so we might as well take advantage of it. College might be mostly about academics, but it’s not a worth-while experiences without everything that comes along with it.