On
a bright, crisp September morning, 172 Health, Exercise and Sport Science
(HESS) students arrived at Southampton Solent University’s East Park Terrace
campus to begin a journey that will take them three years to complete. The
students were welcomed onto courses in Applied Sport Science, Sport Coaching, Fitness and Personal Training, Fitness Management and PersonalTraining, and Health, Exercise and Physical Activity. Before that journey could
begin lay five full days of activities, designed to help develop
friendships and socialise them into their new life as a HESS student at Southampton
Solent University.
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| BSc Applied Sport Science students undertaking fitness tests at 9am |
These activities would test their communication, team work,
problem solving and interpersonal skills and enable them to develop friendships
and familiarise themselves with key areas of the university. The activities
ranged from fitness testing to team building exercises, and from
navigation tasks to leadership training with the British Army. One Applied Sports Science student
commented that “…the week was long and
hard…at times there was a lot to take in but I loved it”, whilst one Sports
Coaching student said “The leadership
training was excellent and really encouraged us to get involved.”
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| BSc Sport Coaching students developing leadership skills with the British Army |
Meanwhile
the Fitness and Personal Training, Fitness Management, and Health, Exercise and
Physical Activity students were performing other tasks, one of which included devising
a project to enhance the health and wellbeing of Southampton as a community in
conjunction with National Fitness Day on Friday 27th September. For
this task they devised a business plan and presented to a group of University
staff in a similar process to that of TV’s ‘Dragon’s Den’. Level 4 Leader,
James Fisher commented; “the ideas were
both creative and viable ranging from plans to change government policy on
fast-food packaging, reducing alcohol intake and organising a points-reward
system for gym/fitness class attendance and healthy food purchases within the
University”.
We
hope all our new students have an enjoyable and rewarding time over the next
three years at Solent.
