A part of the college experience is being able to experience college sports. Whether it’s big time power 5 sports or smaller division 3 sports, many college students love the atmosphere college athletics provide. From watching the games, going to tailgates, being a part of the college community, and expressing the school spirit, students love the “ra-ra” that sports give to a school. Whether or not seniors have decided on where they are going to college, many consider college sports when they make their decision.

“Ever since I started applying to colleges I knew I wanted to be able to go to a college with division 1 sports.,” senior Jacob Dincin said.

Dincin was primarily looking forward to the aspect of going to big sporting events and games.

“I would just love to go to a school where I can go to big time sports games and really be a part of the college environment,” Dincin said.

Others, like senior Aidan Druhan who is committed to the University of Alabama, are looking towards college game days at big time power five schools.

“You know the whole campus revolves around the football team. The campus just has an electric atmosphere for every game and I just can’t wait to be a part of that culture next fall,” Druhan said.

Seniors are also very excited to watch the sports they grew up loving.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of college baseball and ‘Bama has always had a very good team and I’ve been very excited to watch and root for them,” Druhan said.

Many people are very excited to be able to tailgate and roadtrip to many football games and have a fun time in college.

“You know especially because we didn’t get our senior year to have fun at football and basketball games, I’m really looking forward to being able to just have a great time with them in college. I have some great memories of WJ basketball games where the atmosphere was crazy and we had even more fun after the games,”Dincin said.

While many are excited for the bigger time sports, others are looking forward to just being able to go to competitive sporting events near where they live.

“I’ve always been a huge soccer fan and It’s going to be really cool to be able to just catch a soccer game if I’m in the mood in college,” senior Chris Reilly said.

Another big part of college sports isn’t watching the sports, but being a part of it, in a less competitive way. Many college students join club or intramural sports in order to enjoy the experience of college athletics in a much less serious environment.

“I think I’m planning on playing club soccer and I’ll definitely be playing a ton of intramural sports like basketball and flag football,” Reilly said.

College athletics is a big deal for a lot of students at WJ when they are making their decisions and many are going to have a lot of fun with sports at their respective colleges.