The Recreational Center at the University of Arizona

Gallagher 1

Erin Gallagher

English 102

Juarez

February

 Recreational Center Photo Blog

     College is a place where students come to not only learn and discover their future, but also to socialize and the college experience.  When college students socialize there is mainly drinking and eating involved, this leads to the infamous freshman fifteen.  The only way to work off the freshman fifteen is the Recreational Center.  The Recreational Center is a place to work out and to also socialize most of the time.  The Recreational Center at the University of Arizona is a major place to work out and where students can also interact with each other. 

The Recreational center is conveniently located on the corner of two streets, Highland and 6^th Street.  This location creates easy access for students who live on campus to walk and other students who have cars can drive to and can easily find it.  The outside of the gym looks opening and welcoming.  With the plant life and palm trees surrounding the area, it creates a sense of escape from the desert and more of a paradise attraction.  This means that it creates more of a positive atmostphere for the students to come to and work out at.  There are many windows to brighten and up lift the mood of a gym.  The recreational center is supposed to be a place students want to go to stay in shape and feel good about themselves to be healthy.  With the windows it allows a lot of light to be let in making the gym seem more open and friendly instead of ominous and unwelcoming.   My own observation shows that a lot of people would feel comfortable at the gym by the way it is set up and how it has  constructive outlook on a healthy weight and positive attitude with body image.

       This next picture shows the different types of activity that is offered at the Recreational center at University of Arizona.  There is even rock climbing on the out back lawn of the recreational center.  This provides different work out techniques instead of just a treadmill or a spin bike.  With a rock-climbing walk it makes different people come to the gym.  This offers diversity and allows more kinds of students to interact with each other and to socialize.  Once again, the social aspect comes into play while at the recreational center.  There are so many students that walk in and out of the gym everyday that it allows a social aspect to arise from everything.  The rock climbing is outside to allow students to take advantage of the wonderful and always sunny weather that is apart of Arizona.  People walking to and from the gym see this rock climbing wall and it might make them want to try out new activities.  This will allow people to broaden their horizons and make the initiative to meet other people with different likings that they might have.  I believe that having a rock-climbing wall separates the gym at University of Arizona from other schools that might not have the same diversity and choices of workout that the recreational center at Arizona.

      This is an action picture that shows a snapshot of the layout of the weights and cardio section of the gym.  This is just small section of the gym, however, it is by far the most crowded section of the recreational center.  The weight and cardio section of the gym is divided into two floors.  The first floor is mainly weights, this is where most men seem to work out and less women.  Surrounding the sides of the weight area are small amounts of cardio machines such as treadmills, elliptical, and spin bikes.  On the top floor are mainly cardio machines of all kinds and small amount of weights.  Most women seem to work out on the top part of the recreational center.  Cardio is main part of weight loss, which is why most women would be found on the top floor. This is because they want to lose weight especially with pool season right around the corner.  Where men would mainly be found on the first floor because they want to gain more muscle and bulk up instead.  People sometimes have to wait in line for the certain type of cardio machine that they want.  The most crowded times would be around five o’clock to about 9 o’clock.  Anytime before or after this on the weekdays it is usually pretty open because of classes and other priorities that most people have.  On the weekends such as Saturday and Sunday, it is less crowded and not as many people during these times.  This is because a lot of students would rather go out and have fun then work out on the weekend, because that is what the weekdays are for.  From my own observation I believe that this shows that the different times are very important for when students come to the gym.  That it shows the social aspect because people will go with their friends and socialize rather than working out.

      This picture of the same are of the work out center shows how the gym is not as crowded as the first picture.  However, whether it is crowded or not the student interaction is still noticeable in the picture.  This also shows the out line of all the windows in the gym.  I believe this makes the gym feel open and welcoming but also creates the sense of working out outside instead of indoors.  People can see inside the workout area and see the students working out very hard. This provides the idea that University of Arizona is promoting a healthy environment for the students that study here.  Also it is to show that the students are involved in other recreational activities such as rock-climbing.  Along with people seeing inside the recreational center students can also see outside to see the football stadium and all of Tucson.  The view is very pretty and open, giving off the feeling of always being outside and to show off the wonderful environment that students live in, while studying at University of Arizona.  The picture also shows how most men are on the bottom and women are on the top, also each machine has its own TV, this can help students get distracted from working out if it is really difficult for them to escape.  I know for myself sometimes working out isn’t the most ideal activity to do, but when I have my earphones on I can find my favorite TV show on and zone out and enjoy my workout more. 

      In conclusion, many people from University of Arizona can find themselves at the recreational center.  It is a place to socialize and to get in shape to escape the freshmen fifteen.  The gym is where the gender separation can be displayed, where women are on the second floor on the cardio machines and men are seen working out their physique rather then trimming themselves to the ideal weight.  The gym is so conveniently located because every student can find it and is located on the corner of two streets where there is a lot of traffic and many cars can drive by and find it.  The recreational center is a place for the University of Arizona students to come together and show the pride of their school.