When you think of a college workout facility, you would typically picture a large open area with ample machines, treadmills, and free weights, right? Well, for Linfield College, this isn’t the case. Since my freshman year, I had always heard people complaining about the workout facility that the school had. It’s small, has few machines, and no windows. Plus, on top of that, no wifi. In this day and age, having wifi is pretty much a necessity. How else will you pass time on the treadmill without watching your favorite Netflix show?

Most colleges or universities have separate facilities for athletes, but not at Linfield. Every sports team from football, basketball, track, and softball have to share the equipment that is provided, which isn’t much. It’s always overcrowded if athletes are in there trying to train and take up all of the lifting stations. Sometimes you can’t even make it to the cardio room without stepping over someone working out in the hallway. Did I mention there are no windows? Picture working out in a solitary confinement cell. That’s what it feels like to workout at the gym at Linfield. Four bare, shell colored walls closing in on you while you gasp for air after running five miles on the treadmill. That isn’t too pleasant.

For how big our athletics program is here, there definitely should be some improvements and an expansion of the workout facility. It’s not just athletes that need to train, but just regular students trying to stay healthy as well during college. Working out isn’t easy, so why should it be even more difficult to stay fit when there isn’t even enough equipment or room for students to workout?