Rec Center 101
I started swimming when I was four. I was forced to jump in the pool, and according to my parents and grandparents, I screamed for an hour straight. I, of course, have no recollection of this, and I soon fell in love with swimming. I started swimming competitively at age six, and continued to throughout high school. So when I was thinking about college, I knew that although I did not want to swim competitively, I promised myself that I would still keep up by swimming for exercise.
I try to swim at least once a week. This morning, I woke up at 8:45 AM, had a class at 9:35 AM, and then realized that my next class wasn’t until 4:00 PM. What to do with all of this time? After class, I headed back to my dorm. I live in Branscomb Quad, and and in Branscomb, we have amazing storage. I have a closet, a chest of drawers, a desk, and also sliding compartments ABOVE my closet. And, as if that weren’t enough, I also have plastic bins that go under my bed.
After debating whether to head to the library (Biomedical Engineering Library is my favorite, out of 8 possible choices) or to the Rec Center, I decided that I could really use to go for a swim. I climbed on my chair, grabbed my swimming bag out from above my closet (the perfect spot for it!), and then checked to make sure I had my one-piece, goggles, and swim cap. Then I headed over to the Rec, which is about a three minute walk, door to door.
<–Biomed
Our Rec (or recreation center) is always busy. I myself am at the Rec every day, whether it be for one of the many fitness classes they offer (they’re free! I recommend spinning and yoga, and the core abs class is always a killer), to swim, or to work out in the extensive gym. Some of my friends go to rock climb, take a kayaking class, or to participate in one of the many club sports that Vanderbilt offers. To name a few, one of my friends is on the club rugby team, and another is on the club soccer team. Vanderbilt also offers tons of Intramural sports, which include volleyball, tennis, and golf—they even have pocket billiards! For those of you who are a little confused as to what the difference is between clubs and intramurals, although the main premise is the same, that they exist to let students have fun and pursue their own interests, the main difference is that in Intramural sports, students form teams that compete against other Vanderbilt teams, whereas with Club sports, the Vanderbilt teams compete against other college Club teams in the area.
This past fall break, which is usually a four-day-weekend in October, to give us students a much-needed break to last us until Thanksgiving, I went camping in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a few friends of mine. One of my friends, who camps a lot, told us that we could rent tents, tarps and cooking gear from the Rec! It was perfect-they charged everything we needed to our Commodore Cards, and off we went. We drove for about two hours, and found ourselves in the beautiful Smoky Mountains. We gathered wood to create a huge bonfire, and then grilled hot dogs, and roasted marshmallows until we were stuffed, and then we crawled into our tents and fell asleep.
^ Us eating our s’mores and hot dogs…..
If I had looked into it earlier, I couldhave taken a trip with the Outdoor Rec program over fall break…I might take one next year! All in all, our Rec is great-it is a great facility with tons of resources and classes at our disposal, and I always look forward to the part of my day that I spend at the Rec. What class should I take tomorrow? Yoga or indoor cycling? Or should I go run on the treadmill? There is always a new option, thanks to our Rec.