PRLS 317
31 March 2009
I thought of all the possibilities of leisure activities that I could do, but I had trouble because I have had trouble with determining an activity that I have not participated in or was unfamiliar to me. I finally settled on something that I had never gone out to do. I joined a gym. I have never joined a gym and have never worked out appropriately and extensivley.
I went into the gym on a V.I.P. guest pass, and joined. From the outset, the gym itself was beyond what I thought my personality would be able to handle. Firstly, there are alot of people, and in my own personality, I like to be with limited people. I like to be with family or close friends during leisure activities. I was able to go to the gym with my girlfriend. It did alleviate the uneasiness I had with the amount of people at the gym and the total lack of familiarity with the code or conduct in the gym.
The gym culture is completely different from anything I had experienced before. I have always thought that the people who came to the gym are fitness nuts, but I was surprised to find out that ordinary people of all shapes and weights come to the gym.
There are elements of the gym that do cater to my personality. These elements create solitude among the many in the gym. I know it may seem difficult to comprehend, but this solitude is created by the use of headphones. The headphones could be connected to iPODs, MP3 Players, or the headphone connection for the headphones. The headphones create solitude because one becomes immersed in either the music or the television. The very exercises and fitness activities themselves create an illusion of solitude.
It can be quite awkward while working out because I tend to think about the amount of people that could possibly stare at you. Sometimes I got self-conscious about the technique or stretching that I was doing. I have never had full training on anything I have done, and I only know stretching from basketball practice. I do have limited knowledge about working out, but it does not really help with working the machines. The first time on each machine is trial and error. It was truly hard for me to break down to just try to operate the machines correctly.
The gym experience was unique and eye-opening because I realized that I was able to accomplish some things that I did not think was entirely possible with my personality.
I thought of all the possibilities of leisure activities that I could do, but I had trouble because I have had trouble with determining an activity that I have not participated in or was unfamiliar to me. I finally settled on something that I had never gone out to do. I joined a gym. I have never joined a gym and have never worked out appropriately and extensively. Read more…
The site that I chose for the visit analysis was the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center. From what I could see from the outside, I thought this building had been built within the past 2 years. I went online and saw that the building opened in January 2006. I did more research on the facility and services it had offered. The facility is in a great location. I was able to find some statistics for the general area the expo center is centered. The expo center is located off Interstate 95 exit 130, which is approximately one hour from Washington, D.C., and one hour from Virginia’s Capitol. The expo center is located in Central Park, which is a 2.4 million square foot area that contains major retail, restaurant, and other leisure activities. Central Park is part of a tourism concept that is known as Celebrate Virginia. It is claimed that this region services over 30,000 visitors each day. Other draws to the area include Cannon Ridge Golf club, which is a championship golf club, and the historic town of Old Town Fredericksburg, which is approximately five minutes from the Expo. Read more…
February 10th, 2009
admin
I was part of a group of students that went to the Freedom Fitness Center [Manassas, Virginia]. We were split up into several groups. One group was participants, another was observers, and another was surveyors. I was part of the surveyors group. Each person contributed toward the questions for the survey. We were to ask people certain questions and they all had to be exactly the same. The selection of respondents was completely random. Each person went around the large facility asking the same 9 questions. I was able to survey three men and three women. I did not try to do this on purpose. I did not notice it at the time either. I was trying to get anyone to respond to the survey. Read more…
Friday Night Lights written by H. G. Bissinger is about a relatively small town and its great fascination with high school football. The book raises questions about the role of sports within education. Bissinger uses several examples within the book to show negative and positive role sports have had within the academic community. The positive impact sports have had will be seen in Brian Chavez example. The negative impact of sports will focus on the financing for education versus athletics, and actions involving apathetic athletes and the administration. Read more…