Free activities, healthy brownies at Campus Rec Welcome Week
To kick off the new semester, Campus Rec is hosting free events during its Welcome Week, Jan. 8-13. The events cover a variety of different activities, sports and classes students can participate in and learn more about how to take advantage of the opportunities provided by Campus Rec.
Tayler Davis, coordinator of fitness and wellness for Campus Rec, has been at USU for three semesters. As a former Chicago resident, she said USU’s environment felt like a home.
“If I have to leave my family, I want to go somewhere where it feels like a family,” Davis said. “It just has positive energy, and that’s what I’m about.”
Davis said as Campus Rec has become a supportive community for her, she has tried to make it the same for students. Much of this work is by providing many different experiences and tools for students to use.
“We do believe that wellness and being active is something different for every person,” Davis said. “Finding the right thing for you is important.”
In order to help Aggies learn about the different recreational opportunities at USU, each day of Welcome Week highlights a different aspect of Campus Rec.
All of the weekday activities are free, and all skill levels are encouraged to participate. The events Monday through Thursday will be held in the MAC gym in the ARC.
Monday’s activity, held from 8:30-9:30 a.m., is yoga.
“We have a yoga minor here,” Davis said. “And we have a lot of beginners, so we have people that come who are willing to learn.”
On Tuesday, the intramural sports program is tentatively putting on a free throw contest from 5:30-7 p.m.
Bailey Adams, assistant director of intramurals and youth sports, said the event is a great way to learn more about the intramurals offered in the spring semester and how to sign up.
“I don’t think a lot of folks know about all these one day tournaments that we do,” Adams said. “We do a sand volleyball tournament, we do a dodgeball tournament, we’ll do cornhole.”
There are many intramural opportunities this semester, including basketball. Adams said one of his favorite opportunities is Unified Sports.
“Unified Sports is when you get folks with and without intellectual disabilities together to participate in sports and compete,” Adams said.
According to Adams, Unified Sports on campus always has a lot of athletes who want to participate, but not enough partners.
“We’re just always trying to find more folks to participate,” Adams said. “Once you participate in it, it’s hard not to continue, because it’s so much fun.”
All of the information on intramurals and Unified Sports registration will be at the Tuesday Welcome Week event, as will an opportunity for students to win a free intramural membership.
“Those typically cost $25 a semester,” Adams said. “But if you win this, you’ll get one for free and be able to participate in as many intramurals as you’d like.”
On Wednesday, there will be High Fitness from 7-8 p.m.
“This is really popular in Utah,” Davis said. “We’re not doing well if we don’t put out high fitness.”
Also on Wednesday, the nutritionist for Campus Rec is going to make healthy brownies. Students will get a free sample and discuss whether avocado or sweet potato makes a better alternative.
On Thursday from 6:30-7:30 p.m., Zumba will be held in the MAC gym. From 7-9 p.m., there will also be top rope night at the climbing wall in the ARC.
Coordinator of outdoor programs Ashley Brown said the wall can often fill up with people who are bouldering — climbing without a rope — and there isn’t enough room for those who want to top rope.
“Top rope night is when we shut down the boulder wall,” Brown said. “It helps people who’ve always wanted to top rope, and they can come and try it out.”
According to Brown, climbers and their partners have to be certified in belaying in order to top rope, but they have come up with a system for those who don’t have belay certification to still be able to climb on Thursday.
“We wanted some sort of event to kind of promote things for the students,” Brown said. “Just to help new climbers get a little bit more comfortable.”
Top rope night will be held every second and fourth Thursday of the month. It’s free, and there will always be experienced instructors there to assist.
“We love meeting the new students and kind of seeing them progress with climbing,” Brown said.
The only event that costs money during Welcome Week is the snowshoe hike up Logan Canyon on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The $16 cost includes snowshoe rental and transportation.
All week, there will be free group fitness classes held at the ARC. This provides students with information about different classes offered in the semester before they buy them.
For a full schedule of the free group fitness classes as well as more information about the Welcome Week activities, visit campusrec.usu.edu.
The events are also listed on the USU events calendar, which can be accessed at usu.edu/calendar.
For more information about Unified Sports, visit usu.edu/campusrec/competitive-sports/unified-sports.
“Make sure you bring a friend,” Davis said. “Even if they say, ‘I don’t want to come.’”