I'm a member of a country club

Since it opened in 1995 the Student Recreation Center has been one of the premiere Rec facilities in the nation. Included with the large weight room, basketball, racquetball, and squash courts are Olympic swimming and diving facilities that have hosted the NCAA championships multiple times and a 30 foot tall indor rock climbing facitlity. It is truly a great facility. The number of students using it have necessitated several increases in the fee students pay for access so the fee is now $78 instead of the $50 when the facility opened, but it is a steal even at that price. However, most students don't see it that way. Most of them go to the weight room and try to workout on the cardio and weight machines and wind up standing in lines waiting on the machines. They get frustrated with the crowds, which are especially bad at the start of the spring with all of the resolution keepers and shocked freshmen that put on their 15 in the first semester, and some leave for the private gyms in town.

The facility really has something of a country club air for me though. Since I mainly use the swimming facilities (including the outdoor pool in the summer) and the track from time to time I really don't see much of the crowd. During peak times in the morning or while the swim team is still practicing in the evening I may have to share a lane, but for the most part a trip to the pool makes you feel like you are one of very few people in the building. I'm able to swim undisturbed in amazing facilities.

When you combine that experience with the fact that the public isn't allowed through the doors unless they pay $7/day so all you see are mostly white college age kids you start to get the elitist feeling that a country club membership must give you. This bothers me. Maybe I'll go stand in line for a treadmill at the start of next semester.