6 minute read
E SPORTS Students power on their monitors to compete at the collegiate level Hannah Brummer
E-sports
HutchCC students power on their monitors to compete at the collegiate level.
Advertisement
Hannah Brummer, Reporter & Designer
E-Sports is growing rapidly in colleges and universities across the U.S., it has even reached quite a few of the other schools here in Kansas. Hutchinson Community College recently started their own E-Sports team.
“We are hoping to hold tryouts for the team for the 2021-2022 school year,” said Heath Hensley, E-Sports Coach and Computer Support Instructor.
Coached by Hensley, the team consists of Bailey Nachtigal, Caleb Spencer, Christyn Howard, Clayton Huston, Dakota Wolfe, Justen Ortega, Lane Pitts, Morgun Roeder, and Zoe Barta.
“Currently practices are one day a week for a couple hours. Up until the last week of October, we did not have our arena done so we mostly did team building, working on soft skills, and made decisions for our future actions once we could get into the arena to play the games,” said Zoe Barta, Ellsworth.
One of the additions to the most recent renovation of Parker Student Union was the E-Sports arena in the basement. The arena consists of topof-the-line gaming PCs, top-of-theline gaming keyboards, high-powered monitors and webcams.
“As of right now all of the games are PC, but a lot of them are cross platform so they are games the team members have played on devices like XBox, PlayStation 4, or even the Switch,” said Hensley.
The team consists of students from different majors. Whether a student is majoring in computer technology, nursing, elementary education, or even auto mechanics, if they have a passion for gaming, they can try out for the team. Being on the E-Sports team can be a place where they can go and have fun doing what they love with their new teammates.
“I would absolutely encourage others to come and try out,” said Morgun Roeder, Buhler. “We are in the process of really trying to make an amazing E-Sports program for the college and the more people we have, the better the program can become. Also, it’s just a good opportunity to meet people. The team has grown really close just from the meetings, building up to the completion of our setup. So if nothing else, come and try out and maybe meet some people you otherwise wouldn’t have.”
During practice they will work on their skills on many different games.
“The games they play are - Overwatch, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valorant, and a few others that we are looking at but we have not made a decision on them yet,” said Hensley
Aside from the weekly practices, the team has to motivate themselves to practice on fine tuning their skills on their own time.
“On my own time I put about five to six hours a week of practicing and improving my skills. As a team I would probably expect us to put two to four hours in a week, just to keep ourselves on top of things,” said Bailey Nachtigal, Hutchinson.
Photo by Hannah Brummer
A photo of the new workspace of the E-Sports team. The arena was located in the basement of the newly renovated Parker Student Union.
Photo by Hannah Brummer
This side view showcases one side of the E-Sports arena. There are currentely a total of 10 PC’s, monitors, keyboards, gaming chairs, and webcams inside the arena.
▲ Photo by Hannah Brummer ▲
This close up view is one of the new high-powered monitors. The team competed on a variety of different games.
Making the choice Students and staff make their voices heard by showing support for their candidate.
Matthew Folkerts, Reporter & Designer
As the semester comes to an end, students are looking forward to the holiday break. With social distancing, face masks, and hybrid learning, the semester was not the easiest. In addition to all of this, students were faced with another obstacle to overcome, the election. With America in the state that it is in, this election is one of the most important elections in recent years.
“There is a lot that has happened in the last year and a lot of things have come out this year. Our country is being divided right now and it has been divided,: said Rachel Wilson, Hutchinson. “We have so many things separating us right now and so many people are in distress.”
There are quite a few first time voters on the Hutchinson Community College campus. Parker Student Union became a polling place on Oct 21. These first time voters could take to the polls to let their voices be heard.
“There is a lot more on the ballot this election than years past. Women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, Black Lives Matter, Immigration, and environmental policies are all at stake, so it felt extremely important to vote,” said Jaydin Elmore, Hutchinson.
Donating and supporting a candidate can be just as important as voting for them. Many individuals show their support for a candidate whether it be nationally or locally. The support was shown with flags, hats, t-shirts, yard signs, stickers, and other miscellaneous items. When purchasing these items, supporters were essentially donating to these candidates’ campaigns. Supporters also showed support via social media and word of mouth.
“I discreetly show support on social
Photo by Matthew Folkerts
Cooper Self, Hutchinson, casts his ballot. Self took the advantage of Parker Studen Union becoming a polling place on Oct 21. media. Being too vocal about who you support can cause too many personal issues with family members. I do it privately and honestly,” said Wilson.
According to the Campus Vote Project, young individuals make up to about 20 percent of eligible voters. Some of these young individuals have either college degrees or college experience. Young individuals vote whether these candidates best suite education and college debt.
“I know Joe Biden feels as though education should be free or shouldn’t cost as much as it does. During the height of the pandemic Biden had said that college students should receive stimulus checks as well. Joe Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, is an educator, so Biden understands what it means to be an educator,” said Elmore.
Students participated by voting and showing support for their preferred candidates. With this being a major election year, it was important to participate in our country’s democracy whether it is local or national.
DECISION 2020
Results gathered from Student Survery in October
Are you registered to vote Will you vote this november
No No
▼ Photo by Matthew Folkerts ▼
Dana Hinshaw, Director of Residence Life, casts her ballot. Hinahaw sponsored the College Republicans Club.
▼ Photos by Matthew Folkerts ▼
Hutchsinson residents show support for movements and political candidates. Showing support for candidates has increased as the election grows closer.
