Ethnography: The Recreational Center

When coming to Miami University the twenty-two and a half million-dollar convenient recreational center (Walker) is more than likely a place that students will become very familiar with.   All the facilities with the exception of the concessions are free of charge for the students of Miami University, and as a broke college student it doesn’t get much better than that.  Standing right in front of the massive brick building you can see many different kinds of people heading up the towering stairs to get to the main doors.   Depending on the time of day and whom they are with, you can usually figure out why they are going to workout.  

It is six in the morning and the recreational center doors have just been unlocked.  The sun has not yet come up and one by one, coming from Campus Street, you start to see people heading up to those main doors.  Most every person that has entered the brick building has been accompanied by a duffel bag.  These are your average forty-year-old men and women trying to get their daily workout in before they head off to work.  Many men and women use the convenient locker rooms inside the recreational center.  This enables them to shower up and leave straight for work right after.  Each locker room contains several dorm-like showers, wall mounted hair dryers, swimsuit dryers, several rows of lockers, mirrors, toilets, and sinks.  This makes your trip to the recreational center as convenient and easy as possible.  

About seven thirty rolls around these same people you saw entering early when it first opened now leave the building all showered up and ready to go to work.  About this time you start to see some of the college students heading to get a good workout in, which for a college student is bright and early.  Most of these early rising students who come to workout are from adjacent dorms like: Fisher, Anderson, and Porter Hall. They are usually carrying their book bag on their back, hoping to shower here and then head straight to classes afterwards.  These students tend to be alone to ensure that they get a legitimate workout in and still are on time for their first class.   

Throughout the afternoon you start to see the typical college girls who travel in groups who take going to the recreational center as a social place, not really wanting to work up a sweat.  They go in laughing and talking, and go out laughing and talking as well, looking as if they had not gotten any type of workout in at all.  Many of these conversations consist of how classes went that day, what are their weekend plans, or simply the latest campus gossip.  After awhile you start to notice ladies in about their mid thirties making their way up to the main doors all about the same time; these are the ladies that are trying to make it on time for their daily yoga class at noon.  Next, you see young college couples heading up the stairs to the main doors.  These are usually the couples that use the recreational center as a type of date because the guy can’t afford to take her anywhere else, and they’re getting sick of movie dates in their dorms.  

As the sun starts to head down, usually after dinner, you'll start to see guys that come in pairs to the recreational center.  These were your typical high school athletes that choose not to participate in sports in college, but still want to have a defined body.  Traveling in pairs allows them to have a spotter when lifting and also helps motivate them as well.  Usually when seeing guys coming to the recreational center in groups they are going to play a game of basketball.  The center has a couple of legitimate size basketball courts, and guys will usually go for a game of basketball over homework any day!  Along with basketball courts, are volleyball courts, badminton courts, and an overshadowing four-lane track.  When the typical guy exits the building you usually see them still sweaty because they choose not to use the showers and eating a protein bar to ensure their workout does not go to waste. 

As you look out around, you’ll begin to notice that most of Miami University’s newest and most popular buildings, the Goggin Ice Center and the brand new parking deck, are located on the north side of the recreational center.  You have the massive Goggin Ice Center, built in 2006 and features two national hockey league size sheets of ice, on your left (Walker).  On your left, you have probably the most beautiful parking deck I have ever seen in my life.  Directly in front of the north side of the recreational center you have this red carpet like royal sidewalk, leading to spring street, where all the educational buildings are located.  Just like everywhere else on campus you see many trees surrounding the recreational center area, surprisingly very beautiful sight.  It’s amazing as you notice how many people walk to and from the recreational center, but not one stops to see the beautiful sight around it.

It is not unusual to go to the recreational center and see many of these types of people working out.  Based on who their with, or what time their there, you can usually figure out their reason for coming to workout.    Besides the plethora of people going to workout, I also see countless people in generally a red shirt and tan pants, pass me on their way to the main doors for work.  Running the one hundred and fifty thousand square foot recreational center is not an easy job (Walker).  It takes fifty full-time staff, twenty-five program directors, and three hundred and fifty to four hundred student staff members to keep the recreational center running smoothly and allow it to have as many programs as it offers (Walker).  

Works Cited

Walker, Mark. "About Us." Recreational Sports Center. 4 Sep. 2008 . .