Courtney Van Haaften | Sports Co-Editor
A group of two Buena Vista University (BVU) students and Director of Recreation Services, Ellen Schiltz, recently traveled to Nashville, Tenn. for a week of learning and demonstrating at the NIRSA Conference. Juniors Lesa Turnquist and Kirsten VanZuiden were chosen to attend because of their involvement teaching fitness classes on BVU’s campus.
NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation is an organization that promotes fitness on college campuses by providing leadership and educational opportunities for faculty and students on college campuses around the country.
Both Turnquist and VanZuiden were excited about the opportunity to reach new audiences and learn more about what other campuses around the country do to promote fitness.
“I wanted to get the experience in teaching a fitness class to a new group of people, learn more about what other colleges do on their campus to get people involved in fitness and physical activity, and to gain knowledge about new topics in the fitness world,” Turnquist said.
There were many opportunities for them to learn more about fitness during this conference. There were several educational sessions where they learned about fitness, sports, campus involvement, marketing, and the business side of sports. There were fitness classes they could attend, new fitness equipment they could try, and social events where they could network with several professionals and students who share their interest.
“Going to a conference of over 3,000 people and only knowing two prior to that forced to me practice my networking skills and interact with professionals from across the country,” VanZuiden said.
The trio of Schiltz, Turnquist, and VanZuiden hosted their own fitness class called Bodyweight Bootcamp in which 36 people attended. During this class, VanZuiden was in charge of the warm up, Schiltz ran the workout, and Turnquist demonstrated the core section and cool down. The three worked together to put the bootcamp together and each participated and showed good form while the other was teaching.
“Teaching in front of a much larger group than I am used to was a great growing experience for me and reinforced my love for teaching group fitness,” VanZuiden said.
Attending the NIRSA Conference allowed the three of them to go out of their comfort zone, learn more about fitness and nutrition on college campuses, and experience the city of Nashville in order to bring new ideas back to BVU’s campus.
“It really opened my eyes as to what other people are doing on their campuses and how to implement it on our own campus and in my future career in personal training and group fitness,” Turnquist said.
“I left NIRSA motivated to continue to be involved in teaching and helping others feel great about themselves,” VanZuiden said.
Photo courtesy of Kirsten VanZuiden
