The Team
Journal Entries
Christian Naujokaitis
Running
For my 10-week improvement, I chose to run consistently every week. I used the Rec on colder days, as Nebraska weather can be unpredictable. On nice days, I ran outside around a lake and through neighborhoods. Running is a simple yet effective exercise with a wide range of physical and mental benefits. It strengthens the heart, improves cardiovascular health, and boosts endurance. Running also tones leg muscles and helps with weight management by burning calories and boosting metabolism. It supports bone health, reducing the risk of osteoporosis. Mentally, running reduces stress, anxiety, and depression by releasing endorphins, and its rhythmic motion provides a calming effect. Overall, running has helped me get back into a proper schedule and eat healthier. With how much I ran, I needed to make sure I drank enough water and not only eat healthy foods but eat enough of each food group. Another hiccup I ran into was getting new running shoes, since I am doing this for a class, I did not want to get injured throughout and not be able to participate. I am very proud of how far I came and how this project pushed me to be better in all aspects of my life.
Dylan DuPont
Basketball
My main goal throughout the semester when going to the Rec was to have progression with my free throw and 3 point shooting. Each time I went to the Rec I would shoot 50 free throws and 25 3 pointers. The first time was very poor for me, but the 2nd time I saw some minor improvement. And then as the semester went on and I kept going consistently I saw improvement in my percentages. By around the 5th time I went, I really started to get on a hot streak and from there it went up. Every time my group went together to shoot footage, it was so much fun. We had the opportunity to shoot a ton of different shots and angles. The one’s shot from the Rec’s upper deck were extremely cool. We also played some fun basketball shooting games, one of them being called bank, where you try to outshoot your opponents. It got very competitive and it was awesome. Due to college students having vastly different school and work schedules, I haven’t gotten to spend a ton of time with my friends except for the weekends. And a couple of times I went to The Rec, I also invited my friends along, so it was great to be able to spend time with them and just have fun on the basketball courts. This journey was very helpful to me for my physical and mental health. Going to the gym and just being able to get my mind off of school and other stresses was very beneficial, overall it was a great experience for me.
Rachel Miller
Weight Lifting
Hello, my name is Rachel Miller. For my 10-week improvement, I decided to do weightlifting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the mornings. Every time I went to work out it was at the Rec center. In the beginning, I went with a former team member, unfortunately, she had to drop the class due to personal reasons. Starting to go to the gym was hard at first, not only because of the early mornings but also trying to find the motivation inside myself to go. After I started going with this group member, it became easier to get up those mornings and go. I even started to have fun going with her. After she had to drop the class, it became hard again to go to the gym by myself, find the motivation, and not be embarrassed in the way of filming myself. But after a while of going by myself and finding that consistency again, I realized that the people who are at the gym don’t care because everyone is doing their own thing. If you watch the video, you will see a compilation of different days of me going to the gym and realize which ones were filmed by the former group member and which were filmed by me. Every time that I went, I did something different but there was always something that had to do with lifting weights. Most of the time I would also always either start on the treadmill or stair climber or end on the treadmill or stair climber. Some days I did lower body and other days I did upper body. It depended on what I was in the mood for or felt like doing. I would say that doing this for the 10 weeks has pushed me to do better because seeing how I was able to go up in weight almost every time that I went to the gym made me realize that the more that I go the better I will get and how much that can affect my mental health and physical health.
Christopher Sullivan-Diaz
Racket Sports
Going into this project I aimed to be able not only try my best to get better at a sport, but to venture out and meet new people with similar interests. After trying out Tennis, Racquetball, and Badminton I had plenty of challenges, but through this process I found a new love for these sports and new motivation to not only go to the gym and do my usual routine of lifting weights and doing cardio but having fun doing so. Often times we get so caught up in the rat race and just go through the motions without stopping to have some fun. This was a great process to give myself new motivations and make new friends along the way. Tennis certainly gave me a community of people that I consider friends with how the sport forces you to play another person, and through these matches I was able to not only appreciate the competition but the camaraderie that goes along with it. With a newfound love of tennis, I will take it with me wherever I go and hopefully stem community from there, with working out discipline is always key, but enjoying ourselves in the process is an added bonus we all deserve.
