First off, let me just say there are a lot of fine workout facilities on campus.
People complain about the activities fee lumped in with tuition, but I think it’s well worth it if I utilize the facilities as much as I can, which I do.
We basically pay for memberships to a bunch of gyms on campus. And maybe it’s good that it’s not optional – especially if it gets our asses off the couch during the winter months.
When I was asked to choose the best workout facility on campus, the Adventure Recreation Center quickly came to mind, mostly because of personal preference.
I’ve been to the Recreation and Physical Activity Center, seen all the snazzy new equipment, the big windows and metallic walls, the plasma televisions in the cardio canyon – ooh la la – but none of that really impressed me.
I don’t need to work out with a thousand other people – I’m there for myself.
The ARC has nice equipment, but it’s a quieter and more relaxed place to be, tucked away on West Campus. There are plenty of treadmills and cardio equipment.
There is weight-lifting equipment too. I’m assuming the weights are good, not that I would know, because I haven’t touched weights since my freshman year of high school when I was forced to do it by my a–hole gym teacher.
The ARC – gee, how do I put this delicately – has a lower concentration of muscleheads who annoy the crap out of me.
I’m certainly not trying to say that all people who lift weights are muscleheads, but people should know what I mean – there are people who lift weights, and people who lift weights while looking at themselves in the mirror grunting like primates.
For some reason the ARC has a higher concentration of international students, especially on the turf soccer fields – which, by the way, are really great to play on, especially when it gets colder outside. I feel like I’m in a UN meeting whenever I play with them.
The Arabs only pass the ball to other Arabs, and the Asians only pass to Asians, but I don’t take it personally. Maybe they do it unintentionally, or maybe they see me as just another white devil invading their space.
The staff at the ARC seem to be nice enough anyway, and they’ve been pretty patient with me. Because of my schedule, I usually go in there late at night, and I’m the last one there when they close.
They are student employees, so I know how they feel when they see me running around up until closing. If I weren’t there, they could cut the lights and duck out of there sooner.
I’m trying to think how I’d react if I were stuck there night after night because of some midnight workout junkie. I’d probably just cut the lights and the music, get on the intercom: “You are tired. You are finished. Go home. I have mac & cheese and ‘Nick at Night’ waiting for me at home. Get the hell out.”
Maybe that’s why I don’t work at the ARC.
Graham Beckwith is The Lantern’s Arts Editor. He can be reached at [email protected].
