It may sound a bit ridiculous, but out of all the distribution requirements the one I was dreading the most was the P.E. requirement. It isn’t that I’m not an athletic person who hates to work out; I was involved in competitive swimming for 12 years before coming to Wellesley and am used to exercising for a minimum of two hours a day. I was just worried about fitting physical education into my schedule. It didn’t seem that important. I came to Wellesley to go to school and take classes here, not exercise for credit.
Since I had put off signing up for a P.E. class, I decided that I had better get started on fulfilling the requirement earlier this semester. I chose yoga because I thought it would be relaxing. Although I found myself grumbling the first few classes, I quickly learned to love the class and found that it fit wonderfully into my schedule. And I’ll admit, my view of the physical education requirement changed—it was now a good thing in my schedule.
My P.E. class has helped to improve my semester. At the end of a tiring day, I get to go to a dark room and relax. It is a time when I don’t have to worry about all of the work I have to do and I can instead just focus on what I’m doing at the moment. I’ve also noticed an improvement in my focus. Now when I sit down to do homework, I actually getting things done and doing them efficiently. P.E. is the perfect study break. The best part is that yoga is actually fun. It allows me to challenge myself physically, which is especially good since Wellesley is such an intellectually stimulating school.
If you think about the P.E. requirement like I did, and are concerned about taking a course, you shouldn’t be. Wellesley offers so many physical education courses that you are sure to find one that is best suited to your likes and dislikes. It may seem like another stressful thing to have to deal with, but I have found it to be the opposite. The P.E. courses allow you to relax and provide a time when you don’t have to worry about all of the homework you have. Taking a P.E. course may have been one of the best things I’ve done while at Wellesley. I even plan on taking more classes past the requirement!