Very Rough Draft of Project 2

Austin Balon

Mat Wenzel

ENC 2135

12 July 2017

Project 2

Excitement ran through me as I stepped through the doors of the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. There were so many booths set up that seemed to fill up the enormous space available in the building. Each booth was advertising their brand name and giving away products such as samples, shirts, stickers, and many other free things that seemed appealing. Knowing exactly the first booth that I wanted to go to first my girlfriend and I walked as fast as we could towards the booth. There was already a large line beginning at the optimum nutrition booth. People were not just waiting in line to walk through the booth and get their free stuff, which there was a lot of at this booth, but also to meet one of the most influential athletes in the fitness industry, Steve Cook. Since he was one of the individuals that motivated me to begin working out I could not help but stand in line. Not sure if I’d actually meet him or not because of my placement in line I tried not to get my hope up too much, but after hours of waiting I knew I was going to have that opportunity. Even though I had been into fitness prior to this event meeting him was really inspiring to me. He encouraged me to pursue whatever it may be in life and do not let people discourage me from that path, but it was also inspirational to see that someone could have the kind of impact that he does on so many people through fitness. Also located on one of the walls of the optimum nutrition was a quote that stated, “TRUE STRENGTH is not a destination; it is a constant search for the next level – always pushing forward, learning and innovating. It is taking the best effort and the best science and using them to go beyond expectations”. (). This quote seemed very impactful to me and is advice that I still try to remember. Especially as I begin college and will be challenged will have to balance schooling, time with friends, and time for fitness while constantly improving myself.

Always hearing about the “freshman 15” I was a little nervous coming in to college. In high-school I tried to begin making good habits so that it would be easier for me when I made it to college and now that I’m here I know there are more that I need to improve on. However, hearing that the “freshman 15” is such a common thing I began questioning why it is such a common thing for college students to lose motivation towards fitness, but I was also curious if there anything that I could do as an individual to try and help this problem. Since social media has begun to be a large part of the fitness industry I believe that it would provide a great platform to make an impact. One of the forms of social media being, “YouTube”. Through “YouTube” individuals can post videos that can be encouraging, such as progress videos, or as many people that have much experience in the fitness industry do is give advice and motivate people to better themselves. This development of social media within fitness has, in my opinion, encouraged more individuals to be fit and to follow their goals. For example, if someone finds an individual that they enjoy on YouTube this individual may be encouraging to set goals towards fitness or even life. As stated by my interviewee, goals are important because they allow for one to keep track of progress and see how achieving these goals can be beneficial to their life. ()I would agree that setting goals for oneself can allow one to have a direction and a purpose to what they are doing. Another important aspect to remain motivated throughout college is to have a “timeline” or rough idea of what needs to be completed within a day and prioritize with what is most important. This will allow one to get done what needs to be done which will allow for an individual to be less stressed about their situation. When one gets stressed that is when things begin to fall out of order. As many college students seem to fall out of their routines with the amount of things that are going in their life it is important to know that it is okay to change routine, but always find a balance and leave room to improve yourself. This will ensure that you will be on the route to having a more balanced life as a college student.