I’ve made it to the end of another semester. And this blog was a big part of that, being a semester-long assignment for my online journalism course with Professor Mark Berkey-Gerard at Rowan University. But just because the homework’s done doesn’t mean this blog is. I plan on keeping it running. And I apologize for skimping on the updates during the last couple of weeks. Finals tend to do that.
Later this evening I’ll be heading home to Warren County up north, and from there I’ll be chronicling my attempts to stay healthy off-campus. We’ll see how it goes. And I hope any loyal readers I’ve earned will stick around for the ride.
Finally, I’m putting this up. I want to thank Gabe and the other members of his group for taking the time to talk to me and for letting me hang around – I hope to work with them some more next semester!
Finally, we’ve reached the real warm weather of summertime! After a week of rain, the sun is shining, the breeze is warm, and it’s great weather to get outside and be active again. I spent a large part of my day just walking around campus, playing frisbee in the ball fields, and jogging back home. The same should be true for all of you – even though I know a lot of my collegiate readers are preparing for finals, you still should try your best to make some time to get outdoors and just get some exercise enjoying the weather. And if you’re at Rowan like me, then trust me, there’s plenty to do – free BBQs, concerts, and all kinds of fun.
This morning was also the first morning that I got to meet with Gabe’s parkour group when it was not raining. I finally got to see them doing their thing, and was quite impressed. Gabe operates his group as an instructor, and doesn’t leave people behind – exemplifying the parkour motto “be strong to be useful.” I got to talk to a few more group members who I hadn’t yet met, as well. All in all a varied group of interesting people – and I’ve still only barely gotten involved!
The suspense is over – I met with Gabe Arnold this morning. We had a nice sit-down in the Pit and Gabe was a blast to talk to. I’m going to try to meet with him a few more times over the next week or so and get together with his whole group (we were rained out today and Gabe was the only one there) to take photos and videos of them in action. I’ll also be speaking with other members of the group besides Gabe himself. Everything should be put together and posted by sometime next week.
Another chance for you readers to give some feedback. When you go to the gym, what machines or workouts do you use? For instance, I usually spend half my time doing fat burn on an exercise bike and the remaining two quarters on upper and lower body weight machines. What about the rest of you? What do you spend the most time on? What order do you do things in? Don’t be afraid to elaborate on your votes in the comments section. Also, take note that you can select more that one option in this poll, so if you do aerobic and cardiac exercises, go ahead and select both of them when you vote.
In a brief update on the situation, I’ve obtained the student e-mail address of someone involved in the parkour group on the Rowan campus, Gabriel Arnold. Thanks again to Zachary Cohn for the tip! I’ve dropped Arnold a line and hopefully I’ll hear from him soon and be able to organize a meet up with the group.
I spent a short time on Google Maps marking a few locations near the Rowan campus that are nice spots for walking, biking, or jogging. If it’s a great day and you don’t want to get your exercise indoors at the gym, why not head outside and hit the streets? For my fellow students living on the Rowan campus, let me tell you that there are plenty of places to go and things to see in the immediate area – no need to drive to a park. Go take a look, and if you know of any other great spots for walking in the area, leave it in the comments for this post and I’ll add them to the map!
Another one for anyone reading: did you experience any weight gain during your freshman year (or your first year away from home, if you transferred from a community college)? And if you did, how much?
Remember my post from a couple of weeks ago about the parkour group here at Rowan? I’m trying to find a way to get in touch with some of its members so that I can learn a little more about what they do. To be honest, I don’t even know if it’s an official chartered club – I’m guessing it isn’t. But I’d like to find out. So here’s the deal: if anyone in the Rowan parkour group (or who knows someone who is) is reading this and would be interested in meeting with me on campus sometime in the next couple of weeks to tell me more about the group, leave a comment on this post and we can try to get together.
Speaking of peanut butter, as Tory was in my last post with regards to Juice U’s most popular flavors, it turns out that when you’re trying to diet, it makes a mighty fine snack food to keep your cravings to a minimum.
