All Athletes

The room is crowded, but purposeful. Each person has a reason to be in here, and only particular students are even allowed in this building. I am sitting in the athletics center, a well kept building made specifically for the student athletes here at the university. It is obvious that the school's or the athletics department keeps the athletes taken care of. This room is heavily stocked with expensive equipment for only the athletes to use. In the room, I can see three temperature-controlling tubs used for ice/heat therapy, an underwater treadmill that probably costs thousands of dollars, mats, dumbbells engraved with the school's mascot, scales, ice machines, locker rooms, showers, therapeutic bands, rollers, treadmills, etc. The athletes are supervised by multiple well-trained athletic trainers, a doctor, and coaches to help the athletes with injuries and any health concerns. I can see the each staff member must wear a shirt with the university logo printed on it while on the job. The room is kept at a cool temperature, probably to keep the athletes from overheating, (it is over 100 degrees outside). 

The room is crowded with the athletes. Each look slightly exhausted and beat up, either sweat rolling down their face or an ice bag tied to some part of their body. They each walk around with a different sort of confidence, or "swagger" than most students on campus, knowing that they are student athletes and that they represent the school in a unique way. It is obvious that these people are extremely fit and are put through grueling workouts. Some of the men in the room easily weigh three hundred pounds of pure muscle, a lot of them are football players. It is sometimes easy to tell which sport they play by their body time. For example, the men's and women's basketball team tends to be tall and extremely strong-looking, while the cross country athletes tend to be skinny, without an ounce of fat on them. You can tell what sport they play usually by the logo on their shirts as well, and it seems like athletes from particular sports seem to congregate together. While they all look tired from a hard day at practice, the general tone in the training room is light-hearted. Lots of laughter and positive vibes from everyone. The athletes and the trainers alike seem to feel very comfortable in this place, and everyone from each respective sport seem to know each other pretty well.

As I am observing the athletes more closely, I see that some are sitting in ice baths, and seem to be very uncomfortable from the cold water. Some are stretching, and some are being treated by the trainers. Others are also simply standing around chatting with one another while eating protein bars. I can hear some talk of how a particular practice went, some "gossiping" and exchanges concerning injuries with the staff members. The staff members seem extremely helpful, and the athletes seem to trust them with their injuries. There are some massages going on in the back corner, and some complicated-looking medical procedures taking place. This seems to be a normal day in the athletics center.