By Justin Moore

It’s a little early to be at the Student Activities Center on a Saturday.
With chilling 34 degree winds and a ballet of snow performing outside of the SAC’s first floor terrace, providing early morning entertainment, the inside remains barren, with the exception of workers preparing for their morning shift.
It’s 10 in the morning and all of the lights inside are off near the usually bustling eateries of Wendy’s, Subway, Papa John’s and Quick Zone.
“Saturdays are dead,” said Ariel Spenter, a Quick Zone employee since the beginning of the school year. “If there is a game, usually right before the game it gets busy, and then once the game starts, it’s like a ghost town.”
Spenter said that there is usually a smaller surge of people who come into the SAC after the game, but, other than that, Saturdays at the SAC remain like a water park in the winter. It’s a little early to be at the SAC on a Saturday.
Although bare and dark, the air inside engulfs the area with a warm embrace and devoid of any student population, the smell of honey wheat bread from Subway fills the large room.
The SAC workers continue to labor vigorously in anticipation of depleted crowds as they remain in almost complete silence, more peaceful than eerie, .
As opening time approaches, the SAC is free of the normal hustle and bustle during the lunch rush of the week, the time thousands of students usually come to indulge. The few students that do come this early, however, crowd around Wendy’s, none of whom were eager to engage in an early morning conversation – perhaps a little too early to be social on a Saturday. 
They are inside, shaking off the cold from outside, and trying to throw off the grogginess that comes with morning. 
Without their backpacks, many students instead drag around the hangovers that they tied on last night. 
There is an abundance of baggy eyes, raspy voices and bed-head in the SAC this early. For once, lack of student presence is not due to lack of student spirit.  It’s just a little too early.
Opening time came and went, and the most frequented student area was still limited of any student activity.
Three year Subway employee Sonya Meredith, says the SAC usually doesn’t get that busy on a Saturday. She said the crowds pick up “usually around 11:30 to 2,” but even then, the crowd is small compared to what befalls the SAC during the weekdays. “After 2, [the crowd] gets pretty sparse, especially if there is a game or something,” said Meredith.
Tammy Johnson, who has worked at Wendy’s for a year, echoed Meredith’s sentiments.
“It’s normally like this,” said Johnson. “We usually get a little crowd, but normally it’s not busy.”
And so goes the morning on a college campus. The workers stand around, joking with each other or in silence.
 It feels like a war zone after a fight.  All of the employees are battle hardened during the week, performing their routine tasks for thousands of students, committing those actions to muscle memory.
As Saturday rolls around and there are few people to serve, they remain ever vigilant to do their job, always keeping a watch on the door leading students in from the cold.