Hello and welcome to Gettysburg College! My name is Olivia Duffy and I am a senior this year. One of the things I have come to adore most about Gettysburg in my four years is the campus recreation program.
The program is run out of the Jaeger Center with the help and leadership of Cindy Wright and Leah Bernier. We offer so many opportunities not only for student fitness, but also well-being, self-love, and compassion. The concept of a family and community really shines through to create a full-circle Gettysburg experience.
Allow me to share with you my experience with the campus recreation program and well-being at Gettysburg, and everything it has to offer you in your four years here.
A community of well-being
I have been a student fitness instructor at Gettysburg since my sophomore year and have met the most amazing students, faculty, and staff members. More than 85 percent of our students participate in at least one of our campus rec programs, and many students take leadership roles.
I remember the first time I knew I wanted to teach fitness classes at Gettysburg. I was a first-year student and I was signed up for a spin class with an instructor named Katie McCarthy ’20 - we still talk to this day! I fell in love with the class and adored her, and from that day on, I was put in contact with Leah and I started teaching spin classes the following semester.
Fitness is a key aspect of the Gettysburg experience, whether you are a student-athlete or an avid gym-goer, but more than that, the community that the campus recreation program creates outshines all. I felt so at home in that class in the multipurpose room. I saw so many different people, all different class years, and all there for the same reason: bettering themselves and practicing self-love and well-being. This is what ties us all together, and it makes us so strong.
Opportunities abound
There are so many different ways you can find this feeling of home in the campus recreation program like I did. There are a plethora of classes you can try, you can work at the front desk of the Jaeger Center, and you can join intramural sports and form your own experience at Gettysburg.
If there’s one thing I’ll always remember about Gettysburg after I graduate in a few short weeks, it is my experience with the campus recreation program. Come, step on campus, and get involved in this amazing, welcoming, and wholesome community, and make your Gettysburg experience “Gettysburg great!”
Olivia Duffy ’22
Photo courtesy of Olivia Duffy ’22
Posted: 05/03/22
