Something For Everyone

Student Recreation Center
Visual I

You are walking up to the heavy metal doors, dodging the cars zipping past, and you are ready to start a great workout, or at least try to. Trying to leave all the stress from a hectic day behind you, time just seems to stop. As if there was no schedule and you could stay forever and not miss a thing going on. Various different body types and ages are all working out, you are entering a judge free zone. After entering you hear, "Can I have your card please?" from one of the staff members proudly wearing one of the Student Recreation Center shirts.  Quickly sliding your card to confirm that you are in fact, a student at Bloomsburg University.  One of the few tasks the staff at the front desk face upon a shift at the Student Recreation Center.(Visual I)


A day as a staff member is quite straight forward.  The employee would come in, sit down and begin swiping people in with their card to start their workout, as long
as they are a student. If they do not have a membership or Bloomsburg University ID the guest has to pay five dollars.  Teachers and alumni have the option to buy a membership for the gym.
If they choose to do so it will cost a small reasonable fee.

Then, every hour a staff member has to go around to every location and record the amount of people within that location for their statistics.  Throughout the shift, a lot of basketballs are signed out using a Student ID as well as other recreational items. Along with basketballs, the staff also signs out jump ropes, volleyballs, elastic bands, ping pong paddles and balls, boxing gloves and many other useful equipment.

Every freshmen has heard the phrase "Do not wear your lanyard around your neck!"  Another mistake some freshmen are guilty of is leaving their card at the front desk when they slide it.  Who would forget their ID, it is how most students on campus eat! It is just one of the strange and unusual things that the staff deals with.  Also, many people ask where the water fountain's are.(Seriously? There is a water fountain in every room, if not more than one.)  These are only a few of the silly things that happen throughout their shifts.

Very few people who will walk into the dimly lit entrance of the gym walk in alone. Upon entering, you are greeted with empty red seats filling the musty, neutral lobby and a whiteboard containing the trivia question of the day. Some as weird as "What is the only large mammal with ultraviolet vision?"
Where on the back of the whiteboard you will find the answer, which was "Caribou." Everyday a new trivia question awaits each and every new and repeated face that enters the gym.  In the background you will often hear sneakers squeaking and balls bouncing on the basketball courts.  Another thing you will also often hear in the gym is the faint sound of today's most popular music to fill the void of silence within the very high ceilings.

Within the gym you will find five full sized basketball courts that are also used for volleyball and tennis. These courts take up most of the area within the Student Recreation Center. Four of the five basketball courts create the main arena with the fifth basketball court in an adjacent gym. Surrounding the main arena an indoor track is almost always busy. The indoor track extends to one eighth of a mile around the courts where people run, walk and jog every day.  Across from all of the chaos within the main arena are the four racquetball courts that have glass enclosings. These do not have much use however. On the adjacent wall, a multi-purpose room used for anything, attracts many people. The multi-purpose room is never empty. Throughout the week there is a full schedule of activities both day and night for a great workout taught by faculty and sometimes even students. Some of the classes available in the multi-purpose room are Yoga, Jumping Calories and Latin Dance. 

Rock Climbing Wall
Visual II

The weight and fitness rooms with a combined size of twelve thousand square feet, bring people in to do more of a routine workout. They contain equipment for just about any type of workout someone looks for. New cardio equipment, which is said to be one of the greatest improvements this year are used very frequently.  Just outside of the cardio room features a thirty foot tall indoor rock climbing wall (visual II).  This however does not open all the time. The rock climbing wall is a very popular choice with many different paths to choose from, which are marked off by colorful tape.  To climb the wall however, there are precautions everyone must take for safety. Safety gear which is provided, is a mandatory precaution everyone must take.

There are also a few extra things the gym has to offer their guests to use.  At the beginning of the year, signups are held for a personal trainer on a first come, first serve basis. There is however a deposit that must be paid that can be returned by showing up to the sessions requested.  While working out you need a place to leave your stuff right? well, There are multiple locations where you can leave your belongings.  Upon entering there are a few lockers which can be used with a lock or without one, depending on the guests preference.  The gym is not responsible for anything lost or stolen.  So if it is valuable, lock it up, or just leave it at home. Connected to the bathrooms are lockers which can also be used to keep stuff in while one works out.  There are also showers available to refresh after a workout, in the locker rooms.

 Even though on a given day there is not much work for a staff member to do, they still seem to find the job rewarding.  "You see a lot of people and talk to a lot of people." a cheerful senior explains.  "I'll be walking around campus and think, 'I know your name. But you have no clue who I am.' which is kind of hilarious."  There is also a lot of downtime to become annoyed as well as finish up any homework for the day.  Some of the staff just do not understand why guests and students will not listen to them.  "The rules are pretty easy I think" she explains, while signing out another basketball for a student. 

A male student who regularly uses the gym seems to think so too.  "It's pretty simple to just give your ID to be swiped in then start a work out" he said annoyingly.  Within the gym, he prefers to have a routine workout. On a given day, his routine consists of using one of the many treadmills then moving onto the weight room to use some of the free weights. The staff are not the only ones to have crazy experiences while at the Student Recreation Center.  "The muscle heads who skip legs. It is just hilarious. I will be running and these huge guys come and they have tiny legs!"

At the gym you are never alone. From open to close, the gym usually bustles with people. Sometimes even overwhelmingly filled with people. Opening before the sun rises and closing well into the night, the hours are very convenient. Usually open seven days a week regardless of weather, the gym is a great place to just leave reality. "It is a great way to lose a lot of stress" a BU student explains.  "Something about working out makes me feel better after a long day".

After completing the workout and rehydrating from one of the many water fountains (unless you are one of those freshmen), it is time to go back to reality.  "Have a good day", the staff member recites for the hundredth time that day. As you walk through those doors, time resumes. Dodging the cars flying past to continue with the rest of the day.