My favorite way to relieve stress is working out. Contrary to what my size may show, I actually really enjoy lifting weights. I can squat about 15 pounds more than my body weight and my bench press isn't too bad either. While I may have the credentials to establish myself in the weight room it's hard to do so when I'm not only sharing a weight rack with grown men twice my size but when there is only one weight rack to share among the 1,000 non-varsity athletes who use the TCNJ gym.

When I voiced my complaint to one of the managers at the gym, I was met with a scoff, and a very rudely put "go join a varsity team if you want another rack". Really? So only division three athletes have the luxury of accessing more weight racks than the rest of us? I'm not knocking to any athlete that what they do is hard and time consuming, but just because I don't play a varsity sport does not mean that I'm not athletic.

I have also heard the excuse we're not a free-weight gym. Really? Because there are free weights! Is one extra rack going to knock the balance of the gym off it's course? Is one rack really going to intimidate our gym goers so much that people will stop using the 20+ cardio machines? No if anything, it will encourage girls and boys alike to get lifting to tone and to stay fit.

And more than anything I want to stop hearing: "We can't afford it." It was cool having new free weights delivered to the gym in early September but why couldn't that go to at least one additional weight rack! Just one more! That is it! You're losing students to other gyms because they have a higher chance of using the weight rack the day they want to.

I'm not saying we need five weight racks, but what we do need is at least two. And I highly doubt one additional weight rack will throw off the gentle balance of the gym.