The other day, my friends and I went to watch one of my best friends, Kaleigh, compete in her track and field race. She was incredible, by the way. On our way home, my friend Grace and I saw probably no fewer than 30 people running out by St. Mary’s Lake, and we turned to each other, almost at the same time, and said, “Everyone here runs.”
I had a professor during my freshman year who said almost the same thing. Then he talked about how Notre Dame students really care about themselves and their well-being, how most students make time and space for both their academic and personal pursuits.
Not everyone can be a 5K-racing athlete like my friend Kaleigh, but many of us (ND students) are accustomed to an active lifestyle that keeps us on our toes, and sometimes, going to college and not having the sport you once played or the team you once were a part of, can make you feel like you have lost that part of yourself that is not all-school-all-the-time. So today, I am going to discuss some of the ways that Notre Dame students stay active on a very busy schedule!
Quickly, though, I do want to explain the title of this blog: “NARPS at ND,” where NARPS means “Non-athletic regular people/persons.” I did not make this up, and if you don’t like thinking of yourself as a NARP, no worries. For all intents and purposes, this is just a joke. You are very athletic, even if you are not a D1 athlete. I just couldn’t decide what to name this.
Now that I got that disclaimer out of the way, let’s get to it. Notre Dame has something for everyone in terms of movement. If you are seeking community, I would recommend club sports or intramural sports. One of my close friends is the captain of our hall’s flag football team, and the girls who participate genuinely have so much fun. Plus, the final two teams get to play in the stadium, which you have to admit is so awesome. I also have friends who have played club soccer or who have joined the club swimming team, and these teams are a way to commit to a team like you may have in high school, without stressing as much as you would playing a varsity sport.
Additionally, Notre Dame has two gyms that have lots of equipment (plus, all dorms also have a gym), as well as group classes that you can take! Weight lifting, HIIT, yoga, pilates, group cycling sculpt. You name it, Notre Dame has it. Classes are usually led by other students, too, so they’re an awesome opportunity to make friends who have similar activity habits.
Not to brag, but Notre Dame also has a rock wall, which is so cool, and the people who use it are so awesome. I want to be as fearless as they are. It doesn’t take much training to get into it either. To my knowledge, there is usually a workshop, and then you can come in and climb when you want. Now that I am talking about this, maybe I should try.
However, I genuinely believe one of the most common forms of movement on this campus is running. I do not know what the running to Notre Dame pipeline is, but it definitely exists. We have two beautiful lakes, St. Mary’s Lake and St. Joseph’s Lake, that have paths around them where you can see people running at all times of the day. Additionally, the sidewalks and quads on campus are well-lit, so for my girls who are early or late runners, you can run around campus and, for the most part, feel safe. I should also add that every year, Notre Dame holds the Holy Half Marathon in early April, which fills up almost instantly. I don’t know about everyone else, but I think running a half-marathon is a huge deal. It’s 13.1 miles. I don’t even like driving that far! Yet, so many students here just do it (with training, of course). It genuinely amazes me, and with all the work Notre Dame students do, it should amaze you, too!
This is all to say that you will not lose the active community you formed in high school upon coming to college. I will not lie and say that it’s the same, but the Notre Dame exercise scene is something new and great! Being active at Notre Dame can be as serious or unserious as you would like it to be, and to be honest, I have barely scratched the surface of all the things you can do. You can run a half-marathon, or you can go play broomball (which, according to my friends who were quite passionate about it, involves hitting a ball with a broom on ice) on a Thursday at 10 p.m. Put yourself out there and try new things, and you will get what you want out of sports and movement at Notre Dame.