Along with many other required general education courses, students must take two hours of fitness and well being courses. Students can choose between various classes including tennis, weight lifting, racquetball and badminton or can take a less-active class, such as lifetime fitness.
Rick Weaver, assistant professor of physical education, teaches a golf class and Techniques of Team Sports. He said there is a wide range of skill learned in his golf activity class.
“We have a variety of skill levels ranging from students who have never played before to some students who are quite proficient,” Weaver said.
Freshman Gillian Joy took leisure activities earlier this semester and a golf class in the fall semester.
“Since I’ve played golf for many years, I already knew pretty much what to do,” Joy said, “And since I had heard may things from other students about leisure activities, I knew kind of what to expect.”
Eugenia Askew, assistant professor of physical education, is currently teaching Golf, Leisure Activities, Movement and Dance and Recreational Leadership. She said she also gets students who are at various levels of experience.
Askew said she hopes students who take her class will learn the basic skills of whichever activity they are taking.
“If I can get that groundwork laid very sufficiently, then we can get them out on the golf course and play and have some fun,” Askew said.
Sophomore Theresa Oliver said she has taken both racquetball and badminton classes. She said she didn’t have any prior experience with either sport.
“I think I definitely learned a lot, obviously, with not knowing anything beforehand,” Oliver said. “I’d feel a lot more comfortable playing the games if the opportunity ever came up.”
Sophomore Jordan Olsen said he took badminton and weightlifting last spring. He said he had been lifting weights for a long time before the class, but he’d only played badminton a couple of times before.
“I learned quite a bit in badminton, like rules and techniques,” Olsen said.
Weaver said he thinks the requirement for students to take P.E. classes is very important. He said it can introduce students to activities they can participate in later that they might not have known about.
“It can promote health and fitness, which are two key components to when you leave college,” Weaver said.
Freshman Justine Greve said she took a badminton class to help fill the requirement. She said she likes the idea of the requirement because it can keep you in shape and teach you new things.
“Classes like badminton are good because you can always play it even if you’re kind of old,” Greve said.
Olsen said he enjoyed many aspects of his P.E. classes besides just learning the basics and improving skills.
“It keeps you from getting fat and you can have some fun and meet some different people,” Olsen said.
Joy said she chose golf because she’d already played it and because she knew it would be easy.
“I’m glad I got to take them because they were classes that I could go to and not have to worry about any outside work,” Joy said.
Oliver said she took the classes she did because a lot of her friends took the same ones with her and also to boost her GPA.
“I already had all of my P.E. credits taken care of so I just took badminton so that I’d feel I was keeping in shape throughout the semester and because it was at a time when I wouldn’t be doing anything anyway,” Oliver said. “That way I’d feel productive.”
Olsen said he really enjoyed both classes because of their relaxed settings and, for his weight lifting class, the lifting he did during football practice counted as class time.
“Badminton was fun and not too strenuous and I got credit for it,” Olsen said “And for weights, coach just made sure I worked out during football.”
Although Joy said she enjoyed the classes, she really doesn’t understand the need to require these classes. She also said she only sees them being important to people who are majoring in fitness.
“The only thing I gained were the two credits I need to graduate,” Joy said.