One dollar. Try getting someone to pay you even one dollar for playing a video game. Yet, as ridiculous as that sounds, one ISU student pays for his college tuition by just that – playing a video game.

Josh Sievers, junior in business management, leads the dual life of a college student and professional gamer. Although most students just play video games to alleviate the stress that comes with college, Sievers plays games to pay his tuition and living expenses.

Sievers is a member of Team 3D, a professional gaming team that excels in “Counter-Strike (v. 1.6),” a popular online first-person, team-based shooter.

“I first started playing ‘Counter-Strike’ in high school with friends,” Sievers says. “Then about two years ago, I became a professional gamer.”

After playing in different teams, Sievers was invited to join Team 3D just four months ago.

“Team 3D is probably the best team I’ve been on,” Sievers says. “There’s a very professional aspect to the team, and they’re the No. 1 sponsored team in the U.S.”

In fact, two of Sievers’ biggest sponsors are Intel and nVidia.

“They help me by providing me with top-of-the-line gaming equipment,” he says. “They also pay for the expenses of competing in gaming tournaments as well as a monthly salary.”

Although Sievers declined to mention the exact sum of his salary, he says it’s “enough to live well and pay for college tuition.”

Unfortunately, as with any other job, there is still pressure.

“Honestly, I do feel a lot of intense pressure representing our sponsors,” Sievers says. “There’s a certain way they want to be presented, and in tournaments, the mindset almost becomes a matter of not winning, but not losing.”

Sievers says tournaments can become very stressful because of the pressure of wanting to perform well. The anxiety disappears, however, when the game starts.

“All the stress and pressure just disappears when the game starts,” Sievers says. “At that moment, it’s just about playing the game.”

Team 3D’s experience and teamwork did not fail it; at the U.S. Qualifying Rounds for the World Cyber Games, Team 3D was the winner among 40,000 people. In November, Team 3D will be traveling to Singapore to participate in the World Cyber Games tournament.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Sievers says.

“It’s probably the biggest and best gaming tournament around. There’s going to be 70 countries represented there.”

The first-place prize at World Cyber Games is $50,000.

To train, Sievers plays “Counter-Strike” four nights a week for around five hours. He says the hours will increase as the tournament date draws near.

“It does get hard trying to manage school, traveling, gaming and a social life,” he says. “Luckily, my professors are understanding and lenient about it.

“Since I’m a business major, most of my professors see all this as a real-world experience of working with companies [sponsors Intel and nVidia] and seeing how they work.”