Observation

Entering the Adanti Student Center and climbing up the two, dark grey colored stairs, your tired legs will take a few steps until you reach your destination. Bright colors and paper flyers cover the glass doors ahead of you filled with fitness activities and events that are coming up in the next few weeks. As you turn the slippery silver handle and enter the glass doors, you are greeted with smiling faces usually in gray tee shirts. “Hey, how are you today?” is the first question you try to answer but the smell of sweat and rubber overtake your nose. Then, you gently swipe your hoot loot, making sure the black bar code is facing toward you and hear a beep. The beep is your ticket into the gym and you are finally ready to begin your workout.

 Passing two more open doors to offices on the left and ten tall cardio machines on the right, the girl’s locker room jumps out at you. In this classy, all white and cream locker room, girls of all sizes are preparing for their workout or are covered in sweat already. The tiled floors have scattered spots of dirt from outside but are generally kept up well. Your worst enemy is staring you in the face with numbers ranging from zero to three hundred and a black platform to determine your confidence. A quick look in the full length mirror, and you step back out onto the speckled gray textured floor. Sounds of metal hitting metal and static from the machines along with faint music will fill your ears here, but most like to drown this sound out with ear phones and their personal music.

                Many different people spend their time here including students and faculty, but they all have a few things in common. The most obvious, sweat and beat red faces, but the less obvious, hard work ethic and determination. Working out is a life style that most believe is just physical but is mentally exhausting as well. Your mind set must be motivated and ready to take on what you think is the impossible just to get that body you’ve always dreamed of. Taking a few steps further, past the dozens of treadmills and elliptical machines lined in parallel rows, you look to your left and find a huge mirror coupled with black free weights and weight machines. Mostly guys will stand in this area to look at themselves and their progress in the mirror, very rarely will you see females here. In the way back of this straight lined facility, you will find two doors to enter into a room. This room always reminds me of my ballet room as it has ceiling to floor mirrors and light sand colored wooden floors. Used for group exercise and space, this room can be turned into one of the most fun places on campus, being able to socialize while working hard. The SCSU fitness center is filled with positive energy and various people constantly trying to reach their goals which rubs off on any new comers or even the regulars.