Are college students lazy?

What if you could pay someone to do tasks for you? Grocery shopping, picking up your food when you’re hungry or even bringing you medicine when you’re sick. 

Services like Errand and DoorDash, apps you can download from the convenience of your phone, do just that.  

These can sound very appealing, especially if you are a busy college student. 

According to its website, Errand was launched in 2022. Individuals can request a runner for services including donation drop-offs, online and in-store item returns, or drop-offs from home to work, school, or another home.

Individuals can request pharmacy pick-ups or shopping at any store. Errand also takes custom requests.  

Ember Gonsalves, a sophomore at Utah State University, said she could see herself using the app, depending on the situation.  

“It could help especially because I don’t have a car, but I think it really depends on the errand, because a pharmacy for example,  I feel like that’s very private,” Gonsalves said.  

Other students said they wouldn’t use the app at all. Dahlin Ashby, a student at USU, said he likes to run his errands by himself and would feel uncomfortable if someone else did them for him.  

With the rise of Errand, some people might wonder how popular other service applications are, like DoorDash.   

Hayden Wilde, a USU junior, said he doesn’t normally use DoorDash because he likes to save his money, but there are exceptions. 

“Why would I pay an extra $8 if I know I can just go get it myself? It’s not that big of a deal. The convenience factor is nice though, so if I really did need it, or if I was just in the mood for it, or if I had a gift card, I would be more up for it,” Wilde said. 

Gonsalves said she used to use DoorDash frequently in her first year of college. 

“When you’re a college student, you’re so busy. I worked full-time and I went to school full-time and I didn’t have the time to make dinner, so I would just order all the time,” she said.  

Gonsalves said she thinks there is a misconception about why students use services like DoorDash and Errand.  

 “I think there’s a stereotype with people around our age that we are lazy, but really we work and study so much and go to school, so when we get home, we might not want to make dinner,” she said.  

Wilde said he doesn’t think college students are lazy and that the majority of them probably have a second source of income.  

“I  would say that a lot of college students are quite dedicated to making some cash if they need to. Most college kids have a second way of earning consistent money,” he said.  

However, Wilde said he can see why college students could be categorized as lazy for using these services.  

“Sometimes we just don’t want to do it ourselves, especially if we have a day where we don’t have any homework and we don’t have to go anywhere, and we just want to stay inside,” he said.  

Whether it’s a lazy day inside or a busy day on campus, you can count on resources like DoorDash and Errand to bring you food and accomplish your to-do list.  

-Savannah.Burnard@usu.edu