Being able to use a controller to throw a football, disable a bomb or shoot a basketball can change a student’s life completely. E-gaming, also known as electronic gaming, is the new trend for many students looking at colleges to further their education.

According to “The New York Times,” “universities in Chicago are offering the same sort of scholarships given to athletes playing soccer, football and ice hockey.”

By playing video games such as Madden, NBA 2K and Counter-Strike, students are becoming Varsity gamers all over Illinois in the hopes to get a scholarship in digital design.

According to CNN, “Students we met last spring had earned scholarships to play video games while pursuing college degrees in subjects ranging from computer networking to business to design.”

Along with the students being excited for these opportunities, the parents are ecstatic and shocked beyond belief. But despite parents being amazed by this concept, they can all agree on the fact that their children are happy and pursuing their dreams; E-gaming has helped many students decide on their future.

According to CNN, “One mother can’t watch because the games make her dizzy; a second can’t keep the name straight and calls the game ‘League of Nations.’ Another mom can hold her own in any competition, and a fourth carved out a weekend to play with her son so she could begin to understand. There are fathers who remain baffled, some who told their kids video games would never pay the bills and others who’ve admitted they’re downright jealous.”

The easiest way to get noticed by colleges is by being active in the gaming community, whether it is online or in person. Students who are interested in gaming should continue playing games like Counter-Strike and Overwatch. Students should even attempt to participate in tournaments to make themselves well known.

“I think there’s a good handful of students who are into computer design and gaming,” sophomore Tyson Baker said. “So if they got the opportunity to get a scholarship to a school for that they’d enjoy it.”

Colleges ranging from Robert Morris University to Harvard University are all offering scholarships for E-gaming because they see a future in professional gaming and digital design. Although E-gaming is still a relatively new topic, many high school students seem really interested and excited for the future to come in digital design and networking.

College students are now taking their video gaming to a whole new level with teams, practices and online tournaments. Everyone is trying their chances to be offered a scholarship. Alone, gamers can be given up to four years worth of tuition money by winning just one tournament.

“A college offered a student of mine a full ride scholarship to test out video games basically because he was involved in some competitions,” counselor Kirk Langenkamp said.

E-gaming started off as a way for people to entertain themselves and be creative, now these students are pursuing their dreams and beginning off their season as Varsity E-gammers.