It’s midterm week once again, and I feel like I just said it was midterm week of last semester. Time is flying by so fast that most of the time I don’t know what day it is. How do we deal with the stress? I’m sure similar ways you do: biting nails, eating chocolate, cry, call all your friends, procrastinate, scream, have panic attacks, escape to nature, etc. This semester, to avoid all of the not so good forms of dealing with your stress, I’ve committed to working out for an hour each day. Let me tell you, it makes a geat difference!
Hope is blessed with many awesome facilities that are all free for student use. One that I use everyday is the Dow Center. Equipped with a large gym with second floor track, four racquetball courts, a six-lane meter/yard pool with diving well, and a plethora of cardio equipment, weights, and lifting machines. Just flash your hope ID to the door guard, and you have unlimited access to these facilities. I often times bring homework to read or even sometimes bring my computer to read journal articles while doing cardio, and lift with the meatheads (yes, we still have those super buff elite in college).
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Nearby we also have the Holland Aquatic Center that is a huge pool facility used for large venue pool events, equipped with water slides and for a small fee, can entertain you and give you a great workout for hours.
Hope also has great outdoor facilities for many activities. The Ekdal J. Buys athletic complex contains fields for everything you could need: the football field we share with the City of Holland, the Municipal Stadium, that has stadium seating, the Boeve baseball stadium, the Wolters Softball stadium, and my FAVORITE–the Van Andel Soccer Stadium. There’s also the DeWitt Tennis Center, that houses six indoor tennis courts that you simply just have to reserve to use.
Oh, and I’m sure you’ve heard of the Devos Fieldhouse, named for Richard and Helen Devos. This lovely and beautifully constructed building houses Hope’s basketball gymnasium and the Smith Weight Training Center, another area filled with lifting machines and weights for anyone’s use. There’s also a dance studio!!
I just love to workout and get my adrenaline rushing and endorphins released. Of course, downtown Holland is beautiful to run through along with Centennial Park!
My cluster even likes do lift weights and do Jillian Michael’s DVD workouts. Lately we’ve been doing the 30 day shred and 6 pack in 6 weeks workouts! It’s hilarious when people walk into our cluster and see us looking like this:
If you’re like me, a science major, you may also be stuck in the Science Center all day long where the stairs become your enemy. However, they allow for a great thigh workout as you climb from the 1st to the 3rd floor six times a day!
No matter where, or how you choose to workout, do! It’s great fun, rewarding, and will help you release stress and discipline your body, mind and spirit!
Have a great weekend everyone!
— A