There’s a specific feeling that comes with moving back to campus in the fall, especially if this is your first year. Your room still feels bare waiting for photos and string lights, a desk that doesn’t know your routine yet, and a space that’s about to become yours. Somehow it’s already the second week, and you still haven’t figured out how to get to your classes without Google Maps. The summer felt long until it didn’t, now you’re back wondering how to hold onto the momentum you built, or how to find some if you never really had it. I’ve been on both sides of that. For me, that answer started at Campus Rec.
The first week is the easiest week to start. Your syllabus hasn’t buried you yet, the group projects haven’t started, and you have the excitement of seeing friends again, that kind of energy actually feels like motivation. I stopped using that first week as a wind down and started using it to find my footing. The Anna Fascitelli Fitness & Wellness Center is a short walk from dorms, which meant I had no reason to not show up. Showing up those first few days made it a lot easier to keep going in October when things got harder and the days got shorter, simply because it had already become a part of my week.
Coming back from the summer of staying active, I didn’t want to start from scratch, and with Rhody Rec, I didn’t have to. Signing up for group fitness classes through IMLeagues made it easy to find a schedule that fit. The Tootell Aquatic Center was right there too, same pool, same early morning quiet, same feeling of starting the day with something that had nothing to do with schoolwork. That’s what I kept coming to, Campus Rec gave me something that was just mine, completely separate from due dates, and exams.
That’s what gets you through the semester. Not the perfect routine, just something consistent that you actually look forward to. For me it was a Tuesday evening fitness class that I went to because it became a part of my friends and I’s routine, and we enjoyed it. It gave the week a shape whenever I felt like everything was moving too fast. Spring semester I finally tried the Sailing Center, something I’d been putting off for awhile. Turns out getting on the Narragansett Bay in the middle of a hectic week is one of the best decisions I made.
When school gets heavy, the outdoor fields, tennis courts, and bike path are right here on campus. Whenever I feel myself starting to become overwhelmed, I take a walk on the bike path. I look at the cows, and I stop thinking about whatever I was overthinking, and something about it resets me. It is a leisure walk, but it helps and most of the time that’s enough.
Campus Rec has a way of fitting into your semester without taking it over. It can be a morning swim before class, a group fitness class with a friend, an afternoon on the tennis courts, or a walk on the bike path when you need a change. A new semester is a lot of things at once, new classes, new people, a new rhythm to figure out. Campus Rec is a pretty good place to find yours.
By: Megha Sud
Graduating May 2028
Major: Communications