Every Wednesday, two students are eliminated until only one remains to take home $1,000 in cash. The challenges may seem random, but Matthew Metrick, president of The Challenge MSU, said each week's tasks come from his “sick mind.”

“You fight a bunch of random people for $1,000, what’s not to love?” Metrick said. “It's free money from your competitors, and you get to crush people while you're doing it.”

Though the club might seem brash, it’s a group with community at the center of it all. Members form bonds that are created as quickly as they are broken, while those involved grow closer until the finale at the end of the semester. 

Members show up consistently late into the night every week, but for sophomore international relations major Cade Rigonan, the drama of The Challenge MSU is what brings him back.

“Every week, we have to come together, and you have to decide who's going to be thrown in,” Rigonan said, laughing. “So, there's a bunch of lying, manipulating, backstabbing, and for me, I love to do that, so I think it's a lot of fun.”

Metrick competed in the inaugural season of the club last school year, and although he didn’t win, the club quickly became a second family for him, and he now leads it. Metrick said a big campus like MSU can seem daunting and he hopes that this club can be an avenue for those looking to meet new people while growing real world skills like working with a team and communication. 

“You gotta get people to trust you by talking to them, you gotta be a team leader and show that you're useful, that people want you around. I feel like all those skills really go into being an adult,” Metrick said. “When I came into college as a little freshman, I didn't know how to talk to people. The confidence I had to have in The Challenge went into my real life and helped me to be more confident around people.”

This season of The Challenge will last until the first week of December, when they will crown a winner. Every week’s winner will gain a Spartan, a medal granting them access to the finale; anyone without a Spartan will miss out. 

This past week, one pair of boys and one pair of girls competed in an eating contest. Competitive eating stars like Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo make the process of speed eating look easy, but those competing at MSU didn’t have such an easy time.

A timed eating contest with three jalepeños, a sleeve of saltine crackers and a liter of water was the first trial of the night. Surrounding members said they didn’t know whether to laugh or feel bad for their fellow “challengers.”

The price of winning the challenge for both the boys and the girls was not small, as both spewed the remains onto the grass afterward. 

Political science and psychology sophomore Kenzi Hart, who won the challenge on the girls' side, said the embarrassment of quitting brings her back week after week.

“I don't want to quit in front of everyone watching,” Hart said. “That's bad, that's so embarrassing. I know I can do it, so why not keep going?”

Rigonan, who won his right to the finale early in the season, said The Challenge MSU is great because of all the different types of people that can thrive in an unrelenting and agonizing club. 

“The best thing is just being an all-around competitor. You've got to be able to run, you've got to be able to do puzzles, you've got to be strong, and most importantly, you've got to be able to make friends and keep allies,” Rigonan said. “There might be one guy who avoids elimination every week because he's good at talking to people, and then another guy who everybody's scared of. There are just so many different ways to win, and I think that's what makes it so great."