Fina Blog

 

I’ve always been interested in personal fitness. It started with my love of sports, especially tennis, which taught me discipline, drive, and the importance of physical health. But now that tennis is over, I’ve changed that passion into areas like going to the gym and doing Pilates regularly. When it was time to start thinking of Hawken Project ideas, I knew immediately that I wanted to spend it learning more about fitness and working out. I was especially interested to understand which workouts target different areas of the body and how to build routines with specific goals in mind.

Our project at Kings Gym was structured in a way that helped me learn. We had a consistent routine each day. This helped give me a sense of confidence and direction. Throughout the experience, whether helping train clients or working on case studies to design new workout routines, I built the knowledge to create effective workout plans made with different goals. By the final day, I felt like I had truly developed that skill. I’m excited to take these skills with me to college, especially since I’ll be using the college gym. I now feel proud knowing how to train myself effectively.

Another important skill I developed was interacting with clients. At first, I was nervous because I wasn’t sure how to approach people or what to say. I didn’t want to come off as awkward or unsure. But I quickly realized that everyone at Kings was friendly, welcoming, and open to conversation. I started getting more comfortable asking clients how they were feeling, if they needed water, or just starting small conversations to make their workouts go by faster. By the end of the internship, I felt confident talking to new people and supporting them through their workouts.

I honestly don’t think anything was lacking from our project; it was incredibly well-run. However, one idea I had for the future is that Hawken could help support the gym by organizing a fundraiser. This could help supply Kings Gym with new equipment or even healthy post-workout snacks for the clients. I think it’s a small way we could give back to the gym that gave us so much over these past few weeks.

If I had one piece of advice for future juniors or seniors considering a Hawken Project, it would be this: choose something you’re genuinely interested in, not just something that looks good on paper. I’m so glad I chose Kings Gym because I truly love working out. Every day, I looked forward to going in and learning something new. I never once dreaded this experience, and I think that’s so important because when you genuinely enjoy something, you’re able to take so much more away from it

My biggest takeaway is that this internship took me out of the classroom and into the real world. I learned hands-on, not from a textbook, and I left this experience feeling accomplished. I’m thankful to Kings Gym and especially to Ed King for all the time and effort he spent mentoring us. His discipline helped me grow as well. I’ve always struggled with being on time, but Ed made it a rule that if we were late, we’d have to do pushups. At first, I was doing a lot of them, but eventually, I learned how to prioritize my time. Now, being on time is something I feel proud of, which is a skill that I know is important for college and future jobs. Overall, I am so grateful for this experience. I wish we could’ve had more time at Kings Gym, but I believe we made the most out of this experience.