From an Intern’s Perspective: I'm not as tough as I look

It’s Wednesday, so that means it’s time for my second H3Daily post “From an Intern’s Perspective.” Today, I would like to share with you my first impression of H3.

First, here’s a little background information. As you may know from my last post, I grew up in Georgia and attended the University of Georgia. Although I was never an athlete, I have always had an interest in living and promoting an overall, healthy lifestyle. During my freshman year in college, some friends and I thought it would be fun to take a cardio-boxing class at our student fitness center. Little did we know, this boxing class was led by competitive boxers and focused on technique and truly taught you how to take someone down in the ring. This is when my love for boxing began.

I was an all-star during my first semester of boxing; I didn’t miss a single class (and it was at 6 am every Friday morning for about four months). Seeing myself build strength and endurance just motivated me to do more during the week. I was off to a great start. You probably already know what’s coming next though… Over the course of the next 4 years, I am ashamed to admit that I never once had perfect attendance in my boxing class again. The good news, however, is that once I realized how much I enjoyed boxing, I started to try new fitness activities and started visiting the gym when I could. The semester before I came to H3, I knew I would be going through the program for the first two weeks of my internship so I decided to prepare by getting into the routine again. I signed up for boxing, but this time I dropped the class only about one month in. Even still, I thought, “You know what, how bad could it be? I’ve been working out off and on for about 5 years now. I’ll be fine.”

I’m not sure if I overestimated by fitness level, or underestimated the H3 program, but I have to admit that I was pretty sore those first few days. Even though I was the youngest person in most of the classes, the environment at H3 really made me want to give it my all. I saw guests trying new classes, so I tried classes. I saw guests moving up in free weights, so I moved up. I was attending lectures and learning about my own eating and stress habits right along with the guests. The one thing that I loved the most about going through the program for the first two weeks was no matter how old I was, how much I weighed, or why I was there, everyone embraced me and encouraged me to do my best! I believe that this is truly why people who have visited H3 before return again and again. You expect to be pushed, you expect to eat more balanced meals, but what you cannot expect are the bonds that form while at H3. To this day, I still remember the names of some of the people who went through the program with me those first two weeks, and I check up on them through their Wellness Coach. My first impression of H3 made such a lasting impression that it made me want to join the team for good.