Adding additional student recreation centers to campus to campus will not only allow more students to take more fitness classes, but also accommodate students who live off campus.
Voting for additional recreation centers for students is a step in the right direction for the sake of the student body at Texas A&M. As I spent more time at the Rec, I realized it was an important part of my health and social well being. From the basketball courts to volleyball courts, I have enjoyed bonding with friends through socials held at the Rec and throughout my freshman year, the Rec served as an escape from the stress of my classes.
Despite this, every time I go to the Rec, I seem to try to plan around the lack of space and amount of distance I have to cover before I can get there. There have been times when I feel I have to compete for the elliptical I want, and it’s come to the point that I don’t want to be there anymore. Similarly, there have been times when my friends and I can’t decide on a time to meet up because of how far away we are from the Rec.
According to the “VoteRec” official website, in 1995, when the first Student Recreation Center was opened, there were 41,000 students enrolled in the university. Today, our campus holds 66,250 students; that’s a drastic change in the number of bodies walking through the streets of Aggieland.
With more than 400,000 square feet, our Rec Center is quite large, but it is definitely not large enough to hold our student population today — and definitely not in the future.
In addition to this , the engineerings schools “25 by 25” initiative, a transformational education program which hopes to increase the number of engineering students enrolled in A&M campuses to 25,000 by the year 2025, points to an additional increase in the number of students enrolled.
Of course, not all students will reside on campus, but it’s indisputable our population will undergo an immense amount of growth in a mere five years. If you feel crowded at the Rec or sense the constant competition for your favorite bench-press or treadmill, good luck competing with all the new freshmen.
Nevertheless, Vote Rec will not only improve our crowded conditions, but also provide us with more diverse forms of recreation. With three rec centers on campus, students will have more exercise classes and machines available to them at all times.
Our current main rec center will not be as filled, and the alleviation of students may even prompt some of our more anxious Aggies to muster up some courage and hit the gym. Additionally, some students who live far away from the westside of campus could seek joy in gaining more satellite recreational centers around the university.
When looking to the future and thinking about future Aggie generations, I think it is important to think about the joys and stress-relieving memories we can make at the Student Recreation Center.
For many intramural sports teams, their late nights at the Rec serve as incredible bonding experiences. An early morning workout with your roommates might serve for funny Snapchat stories or a healthier day. These are the types of traditions and memories I think we cherish and should pass on to future students in a much larger form.