Kirsten Smith

Responsibilities

During this internship my main responsibility was making sure that I was helping care for clients in every way possible. This includes getting to know them and building a connection for future sessions. I helped create and implement workout plans that normally focused on generally increasing quality of life for the clients. I also got to work with some online training planning. Day to day activities involved some cleaning, client scheduling, and sanitizing equipment.

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment during this internship was to watch myself grow in experience and confidence regarding my skills as a trainer. I was able to produce variety and creativity within my workouts to make sure that clients were having fun and that the workouts were fitted best to their needs and desires. It was such an accomplishment to compare myself to where I am at now, to where I began.

Learning experience

The greatest lesson I have learned from this experience is that no matter where you are located, the most important things in a major like this are how you treat people. Being in a smaller studio, I got very close with almost all of the clients. I now feel as if they have been my friends for years. Taking the time to get to know your clients and hear about their day can make a big difference in keeping them as a client, or not. Not everyone has the mindset of coming into a gym, only working out, and leaving. Many come for the social aspect of getting to be in an environment that makes them feel valued and important. I definitely learned that this experience can be just as much mental and emotional, as it is physical.

What advice would you give?

To future students in Kinesiology, my biggest piece of advice would be to take every chance you can to learn more. This is such a hands-on major that there is no limit to the amount of experience you can get. I promise, there is always room to learn something new. Join a fitness related club, work at the gym, get into recreation services, and/or find an internship during school breaks so that you can try it all. Take advantage of all the opportunities you can, it will only benefit you in the long run!