Kelsey Hoey

Responsibilities

My job included teaching group fitness classes such as cycling and a beginner weightlifting class. I helped plan a fitness event and spring fitness challenge for students and members. The main thing my days consisted of was teaching and being in charge of the Learn to Teach program. This is a class held at State Gym for students to aid in becoming a certified group fitness instructor. I taught this course four days a week, giving lectures and also evaluating many "mock" classes to give feedback to them as they learned. Other daily tasks included keeping the fitness studios clean, changing towels, and keeping up with group fitness class attendance records.

Accomplishments

I would say my greatest accomplishment was running the Learn to Teach program. This really pushed me out of my comfort zone in a lot of ways. By teaching others how to teach fitness, I learned so much! I also think helping mentor their teaching skills by evaluating their practice classes taught me many communication skills. I feel accomplished seeing how far they have come after working with them for a semester!

Learning experience

I learned that jobs in fitness really require you to be adaptable to all the different types of people you will work with. No person is the same, so they require something unique that will help them commit to becoming healthier each day.

What advice would you give?

I would say that actually going into the gym and getting hands-on experience is so impactful. It won't fully resonate until you begin that and have to go through some bumps in the road. I learned a lot teaching weightlifting for the first time. I had to work through obstacles because I was coaching complete beginners. It helped me grow a lot!