With the growing number of obese people in America, it’s time BYU takes a stand and does something to keep us all in good health. It’s especially difficult to remain healthy when all of the simplest and cheapest food options are all unhealthy. Couple that with the general laziness we get with our bodies when we arrive on campus and the result is not pretty. For me, I know how hard it is to eat healthy and to remain in good shape. My current diet consists solely of cup noodle and pop-tarts! As for physical activity, the only that is remotely close to exercise is running from my apartment to catch the bus! It would be extremely helpful if BYU had some program in place that would make it necessary for me to lead a healthy life. Therefore, BYU should make it mandatory for all students to enroll in a personal fitness course every semester There are indeed several advantages for BYU to make a personal fitness course a required course.
If BYU is going to require the students to learn as many different, and arguably pointless subjects and skills as possible, why not require a course that has some use in everyday life? For the majority of the students, how will knowledge in biology or mathematics help us in our everyday life if it is completely irrelevant to what we plan on doing in the future? Getting into good dietary and exercise habits, as well as learning how to lead healthy lives, is much more valuable to an aspiring English teacher than knowing about cellular processes. If BYU requires everyone to take religion classes for basically every semester, which strengthens us spiritually, it only makes sense to require classes keeping everyone in physical shape.
Now some people may argue that it is a personal responsibility to stay in shape. However, some would also argue that it is a personal responsibility to keep one spiritually strong, so why should there be required religion courses? Staying in good shape and taking care of our bodies should be encouraged as well, so it doesn’t make sense to turn a blind eye in one area and not in others. People often burden themselves with too much work to have the time to spend on fitness, especially if they have to sacrifice some of their precious leisure time to exercise. It becomes increasingly difficult if you do not know where to start and what to do. By making a personal fitness course mandatory, what was initially an inconvenience becomes a very convenient activity.
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I agree, if BYU boasts a well rounded curriculum for well balanced students, it should help it's students' physical well being as well as their spiritual and intellectual. Just offering the class helps, but it's not enough. Often the people that need the class most are the ones least likely to want to take it.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I understand where this is coming from, but at the same time, is BYU supposed to lead you by the hand like Mom and Dad? Yes, most of the food choices on campus aren't healthy, but can't you practice self control and decide to eat the foods that will promote healthy living? And no one is stopping you from exercising on your own. BYU provides access to a gym, multiple tracks, a swimming pool, and not to mention all the phys. ed. classes they offer. What's going to happen when you're graduated from college and you don't have all of these services at the tip of your fingers? College is about being your own person, taking charge of your own life. If YOU want a healthy lifestyle, YOU are the only one that will ultimately make that change. Your parents, your teachers, and the university shouldn't have to force-feed your healthy habits of living.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with Katie's statement that we shouldn't have to be spoonfed everything, they do that with other parts of our education. Required number of spiritual credits, required number of math credits, general credits. So I don't see why a required number of exercise science credits should be considered that different. Yeah food choice, obviously they should just let us decide that. But as far as classes and generals that we should take, I think it would help to have a least one class that people should take.
ReplyDeletethere is a health GE that is required and this is a religious university so it would make sense we have to take numerous religious classes.
ReplyDeletei don't think the health GE is there anymore actually, correct me if I'm wrong but I think they removed it recently from the GE
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie that we can't continue having someone hold our hand and lead us in the right direction. We aren't always going to have people there for us in our lives. College is the time for learning how to do it on our own. There still are some helpers and reminders, but it is mostly up to us to take advantage of all that they have to offer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie, we are adults now, and we should know better.
ReplyDelete