Trace Cummings

Reflective Essay

ENGL-1001

13 April 2020

Reflective Essay

Introduction

The biggest thing I struggled with during this course is the peer review and the draft requirements. I have no issues with submitting a rough draft and a final draft, but when we have to submit three total drafts it created a multitude of issues for me. In my eyes, the only thing that matters is the finished product and this goes with nearly anything in life. As long as you have the finished product and you achieved it with no moral/ethical sacrifices, who cares how it ended up there? At the same time, ‘in my eyes’ means nothing as I’m not the one grading my papers (obviously). That doesn’t change the fact that I disagree with the way things are done but again it’s not up to me but I will express my opinion when asked! I won’t just say that and not provide some background for why I think that. When there are three required drafts, and we have to submit each one and show what changes we made, I think it encourages sub-par work. Especially for the rough draft. If I’m absolutely REQUIRED to make changes to something, I’m not even going to try to make it good at first. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (Cummings). Maybe it’s just the way I operate (I’m a procrastinator, let’s be honest) but I like to get things done right the first time around. I have no issues with fixing mistakes that I make because I usually don’t get it right the first time but if my grade is dependent on there being tangible changes between each draft, you can bet your bank I’m going to butcher that first draft in order to leave space for future changes to satisfy the draft requirement. I’m not everyone else but I’m sure I’m speaking for others when I say that the draft requirements were problematic.

The main skill I’ve improved in over the course of this class is patience. I’m not sure if that’s specifically a writing skill but it’s definitely applicable to writing as well as many other facets of life. It takes a lot of patience to write a research essay and I learned that in this class as I’ve never done that before. It’s easy to want to grind out an essay and throw some fluff in to satisfy the word and length requirement but the patience I’ve grown has helped me to take it slower which will definitely help with future writing assignments. 

As a writer, I’d say my biggest strength is honesty. My hope is that my honesty will translate to an audience that is more receptive to what I have to say and when I put it into perspective when I’m reading something and I feel as if the writer is being honest with me, it puts me at ease even if they’re not telling me what I want to hear. It helps me know that they are being real and not just trying to sell me on something and I’m more likely to accept what they have to say. However, I do think this can work against me sometimes. There’s a balance between brutal-honesty and wording phrases in a way that doesn’t scare readers away and I’m still trying to learn that.

I haven’t held back my thoughts or opinions even when it feels like an unpopular opinion. I think it’s good when you can say something that maybe others are feeling but don’t want to voice as it builds respect (if done correctly) and can help to sharpen others as well. 

Rhetorical Analysis

I learned that college writing and reading are no joke and I also learned that I cannot wait to graduate and never write another paper again. I’m not saying this to be negative or funny but to be completely honest to the question. This assignment scared me and opened my eyes to the fact that I’m no longer in highschool and it’s time to put on my big-boy pants. It was a necessary wake-up call, just not the one I was expecting. I comprehended VERY little of Dr. David Bartholomae’s “Inventing the University”. It was very hard for me to stay engaged while I was reading this article and it was probably the most challenging assignment that we had to do. 

Analysis is very different from other forms of writing in that it’s primarily objective. In my opinion (see what I did there) it’s much easier to write subjectively. I’m very good at giving my opinion, but when you tell me to back that up with some evidence or make an honest assessment of something and show why it takes much more time and energy. I struggled with making statements and assessing Bartholomae’s claims as I couldn’t quite interpret them and how am I supposed to make a statement that is verifiable if I don’t understand what is being claimed.  

Exploratory Essay

I learned a lot about the field that I planned to go into and I also learned how much there is to know that I don’t already know. Put it this way: I know nothing and this was confirmed after grinding out this assignment. Exploration is different from other forms of writing in that it is a bit more flexible especially when compared to analysis. It’s not 100% subjective but it’s also not as rigid as something like an analysis. It was difficult not to take a position on my topic as I said but ultimately this paid off and I was able to learn a lot more by leaving my bias at the door when looking for information. Exploration is important and as demonstrated to the class, it’s the precursor to something deeper like a research essay.  I did not struggle with this assignment as much as I did with the analysis and it was actually the most interesting of all the assignments we had as I was able to explore a lot of questions I had and it taught me a lot about my topic.

Research Essay

I learned in the Research Essay that reliable sources are not as common as I’d like to think and that there’s all kinds of information available on the internet and not all of it is true. It’s easy to want to read and believe any article you see but the sourcing is so incredibly important and can tell you a lot about why what you’re reading was written. Research is similar to analysis in that it’s very objective but research is almost more objective and requires much more statistics and facts rather than claims and statements. The hard part is compiling all of the information that was found. It was extremely tough to find information that did not conflict with previous information that I’d found and it was extremely discouraging when this happened. This made sticking to a position tough as well. The best part about this assignment was concluding and explaining all the information that I found and was much easier than coming up with information. 

Multimodal project

I did not learn much from the multimodal project. This one was another tough assignment for me, as this project hinged on my ability to explain my position with media in different forms which I am extremely lacking in. This only highlights a weakness and an area to grow in though, so no reason to get down about this. A multimodal project stands out in that it relies on other types of ways to explain and forward an argument or idea. It was definitely tough for me to find media to use, and in the end I decided to just make a lot of my media to overcome this hurdle and while I do not think it is the answer, it is the route I took for this specific instance.

Conclusion

I wish I had been more disciplined in my use of class time and time outside of class overall. I’ve already mentioned that I have some procrastinator tendencies and this will not fly in college. I am proud of myself for not giving up and sticking in this class even though there were times where I felt too challenged and discouraged. I wanted to give up and I didn’t and that’s something that I’m prideful of. To someone that is coming into this class, I would advise them to not get discouraged when the assignments feel overwhelming or tough. You are able to do it, you just have to apply yourself.

The Problem with the Fitness Industry

Introduction

The fact that there is no universal requirement for the credentials to become a personal trainer is a glaring issue that snowballs into many other issues and is the central issue of the industry. The problem has been addressed before, but few attempts have been made to do anything about it. This is specific to those working in the industry, especially the ones with hiring power, as they control the people that represent the industry.

First off, there needs to be a universal body for all personal trainers. This universal body should provide direction and guidance for aspiring novice trainers and continue to provide fellowship for more experienced trainers and create a platform for them to mentor those rising up in the field. Second, there needs to be strict guidelines on the requirements to get in and a very strict curriculum to ensure that all personal trainers in the body share the same basic pool of knowledge. Third, there needs to be a way to verify a personal trainers’ knowledge. Think of something like a military basic combat training-but for personal trainers. This would ensure their ability to mentor others. The fitness industry NEEDS a universal standard to hold their trainers to.

There are many organizations that offer certification courses to aspiring fitness trainers. There are many different schools, courses and certificates that can be earned. Part of this is good, as you can get certified in the specific area of fitness you want to train in. The other part of this is very bad though, and this is that there is very little standard for what it takes to get hired. One gym might have highly qualified trainers, while another may have very unqualified trainers working for the gym. This has the effect of giving personal trainers a bad rep. Without a universal standard, personal trainers will not be as valuable to potential clients and there will be less of a need for the field.

Main Point 1

There’s a gaping hole in the personal training industry and it can be very intimidating for those looking to enter the field. The hole is associated with the credentials required to be a personal trainer, or lack thereof. Jeremy DuVall talks about this in his article “What’s Wrong with the Personal Training Industry?”. His thesis is this: “Compared to other industries, the personal training field is extremely unregulated in terms of certifications” (DuVall). One of the biggest issues with the personal training industry is caused by the fact that there is no universal standard for a personal trainer’s certification. While there are many certifications that are currently available, a single certification is not enough to fix it. There must be a governing body that ties it together and makes unifying decisions that can steer the industry back in right direction. The NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) is a great example of this. They are very well known and extremely credible. Known for being one of the best options for getting a certification in personal training, they offer several different types of certifications depending on the specific angle that you want to take (Read). The only issue is, they aren’t the only one, and the entire industry has not yet adopted them, and some of the industry has adopted other organizations instead, leading to fragmentation instead of universalization. DuVall points out how having a variety of certifying bodies is beneficial to the industry as it allows specialization for what the individual wants to pursue. The issue with this is that anyone can create a certification and confuse the public. When the public gets confused about the credentials of their personal trainers, it creates distrust and hurts the reputation of the industry. When people lose trust in the government, the value of that governments’ currency often declines. In the same way, when people lose trust in the fitness industry, personal trainers lose their value and become less desirable. This can have a multitude of effects on the field but most notable is the effect it has on the individuals aspiring to grow in the field. “Having worked in the industry for several years in a variety of clubs and situations, I can tell you for sure that it’s becoming more and more difficult for personal trainers to live and earn a full-time income” (Duvall). Because of the lack of regulation and uniformity, the result hurts personal trainers and causes them to lose potential clients and potential income. As DuVall said, it’s very hard nowadays for personal trainers to earn a full time income.

Main Point 2

After researching further into the field, it became quite a shock for me to learn that the issues with the personal training industry have persisted for years and are not a recent development. “Training delivery problems and solutions: Identification of novice trainer problems and expert trainer solutions” was a survey for research purposes that was compiled over 20 years ago (1997) by Richard A. Swanson and Sandra K. Falkman. This study focuses on 371 different personal trainers and inquired about their experiences as novices (Swanson, Falkman). The biggest issue they identified is the lack of credibility and the inconsistency in selecting trainers and the way they evaluated the trainers (Swanson, Falkman). The problem was still an issue back then, although it has gotten much worse since. The purpose of the study was “to determine the difficulties novice trainers experience during the delivery of training; to gather reports from experts on how they handle such difficult situations; and to synthesize this information into a useful aid that defines the common training delivery problems and provides specific expert solutions” (Swanson, Falkman). Out of the 12 most common responses they received, credibility was #2 on the list. Novice trainers often perceive themselves as inexperienced, and this turns into self-fulfilling prophecy when others look to them to learn from. The 3^rd most common response was their personal experience. While similar to credibility, it’s less related to the field of personal training and more referring to life experience in general.

When personal trainers are perceived this way, it diminishes their value to those interested in being mentored as it undermines their credibility and arguably more importantly, their confidence. No one wants to learn something from someone that isn’t confident about what they’re teaching, and credibility and personal experiences go a long way in building up confidence to teach to others.

Main Point 3

There has been attempts made in the past to unify the personal training industry, but they are substandard at best. There are good certifications already out there currently, but they aren’t the most promising and gyms are inconsistent with their recognition of these certifications. “A certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) certification is a must, but a degree in exercise science or a related field is even better, says Lovitt” (Women’s Health). The CSCS certification is a great example of this. It’s stated as a must have in an article written to clients that want to know what to look for when hiring a personal trainer. While the CSCS is a solid certification, it is not a requirement to get hired as a personal trainer at most gyms, which leads to more inconsistency among trainers in the field.

The fact of the matter is, there’s just not a universal standard for trainers, and this allows anyone to be a part of the field, bringing it down as a whole. “Unlike lawyers, doctors or other health care practitioners, there’s no universal standard required for personal trainers. And there are so many substandard, online personal training certifications available, just about anyone can call themselves a trainer these days” (Harper). The personal training industry allows someone to affect your health, why then do they get the free pass when it comes to the lack of a standard? There is no good answer to this question, and it’s one that need fixed. There needs to be a universal organization that sets guidelines for what is required to be a personal trainer, and this organizations’ guidelines need to be respected by the industry and followed as a result. This would eliminate all the inconsistencies that currently exist in the industry and give the industry a better reputation.

The biggest issue with this, as stated previously, is that regardless of what certification is obtained, there is no way to validate a personal trainer’s knowledge and background unless they have previous experience. The solution to this is seems simple. Many of the organizations offer ways to validate an existing certification but this is simply not enough (NASM). The singular, unifying body that must be created to standardize the certification process needs to offer a course for existing and upcoming trainers that allows them to prove their knowledge to ensure that trainers that go through the process are valuable and viable employees for gyms looking to hire.

Refutation

As previously stated, there have been many attempts to patch this hole in the industry but they have not worked. There are several well-respected certifications that are currently available, but gyms have not fully adopted them as requirements, and again the recognition of these certifications are not consistent. CSCS, which stands for certified strength and conditioning specialist and comes from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, is viewed as the gold standard for strength and conditioning/sports performance training. This is one of the harder strength and conditioning certifications that can be earned (Read). The most popular certification is the ACE certification. It has over 75,000 members on its’ website (Yamada). There is another certification that is extremely popular but harder to earn, and this is the NASM certification (Yamada). There are many great options that currently exist for obtaining a certification, but again not all of them are required by gyms and because of this there is a large inconsistency in the current workforce of personal trainers.

On top this, there is a large percentage of trainers in the industry that are self-employed. That means that clients that are looking for a trainer that is not employed by a gym need to know what to look for in self-employed trainers if that is the route they want to take. How are the clients going to know what to look for? Self-employed trainers tend to make significantly more than those that are employed by a gym. The average personal trainer hourly pay for a self-employed trainer is $45 (Payscale.com). Compare this to the measly average of 20$ that trainers employed by a gym make (Payscale.com). While this is a drastic difference, many self-employed trainers already have an established clientele built up and have had much more experience than those new to the field. Speaking about trainers thinking about going the self-employed route, Brian Lavack concludes that “This tends to be more realistic for those with some experience and an established clientele. After all, the more time you spend attracting clients, the less time you have to hone your training skills. And you’ll need those if you want clients to stick around”. This kind of experience speaks for itself and can provide evidence for a trainer’s skillset. While this is a great thing, it is not available for personal trainers that are new to the field and should not be a replacement for a standard that would help novice trainers.

Conclusion The lack of standardization in the fitness training industry is a problem that has persisted for years and will continue to persist until a unifying body is created and adopted by the ENTIRE industry. Until then, personal trainers across the industry will continue to earn income that is inconsistent and lower than what it could be. It is up to gym owners and those with hiring power in the industry to create black and white standards and to come together to agree on basic things. The fitness industry will stay fragmented until there is a common thread to tie it all together.

Introductory Paragraph     

The topic I’m going to be looking at is fitness training. Fitness training is the general field of fitness instruction. The term ‘fitness’ is pretty broad in the sense that there are many types of fitness that can be instructed. The aspect I’d like to focus on is weightlifting and general strength. A typical job could be a 1 on 1 training session where I’d work with the client and help educate them on their form and help motivate them. I would have to provide a structured workout for each client based on their goals and do my best to help them achieve their goals. I’d like to figure out some of the following questions to get a better idea of what fitness trainers do. What kind of money do they make? What will an average day look like? What kind of environment would I be working in? Is it something that I would enjoy? What kinds of people would I be working with? How often would I have to travel? What kind of hours will I be working? What kind of opportunities lie ahead for career growth and advancement? How stable is the job industry for personal training? Will this job help me along my career path? What kind of benefits do personal trainers get? These are all questions I will be considering and finding answers for. A lot of the answers to the questions can vary based on which company I work for which is why I’m looking for overall answers.

Trade Publication

The trade publication I found is called “Personal Trainer Salary Research Shows the Highest Paying Gyms” and was put together by Daniel Lofaso who runs an organization that mentors upcoming fitness trainers. In the publication Lofaso takes a look at a bunch of different gyms and what kind of money they pay their personal trainers. Lofaso explains that “Fitness Mentors is a fitness education site that helps aspiring personal trainers research the most ideal personal training certification and study for it”.  The thing to keep in mind with this field just like many others is that there are many different types of certifications available and some may suit you more than others based on what you want to do. “..we contacted some of the biggest gyms in the country—as well as surveyed former students from their network—to develop our numbers”. This company got their data from both students that they’ve had in the past and directly from some of the biggest gyms around. Many of the gyms Lofaso touches on are gyms that I have looked at so this is all very relevant information. The general trend in the article seems to be throughout the article is that your typical gym will pay minimum wage during non-training hours, then pay you more during training sessions and commission on top of that. Some gyms are more generous than others. There is a pretty wide range of how much you can make. “Planet Fitness is unique in its approach to trainers. It only pays minimum wage to full-time trainers without bonuses or commissions” (Lofaso). Planet Fitness is a huge exception to this and was the only gym that strictly paid minimum wage. However, on the opposite end of the spectrum you can make as much as $74.50 per session capping your earnings at $158,400 per year (Lofaso).

Website

The source I found is from “Thebalancecareers.com” and it is an article written by Dawn Rosenberg Mckay. This is what Mckay said when he described a career in fitness training: “A fitness trainer leads people in exercise and related activities. He or she works with individuals or groups, providing both instruction and motivation. A fitness trainer may specialize in aerobics, weight lifting, yoga or another activity” (Mckay). Basically, fitness trainers work with other people and help instruct and motivate them to engage in exercise related activites (Mckay). This is the meat and potatoes of what fitness trainers do, and although there are many other branches of fitness, most of them have the same central things in common regardless of the activity. Mckay reports that they earned a median salary of $34,980 which equates to $16.82 hourly. He also reports that there were 267,000 other individuals working in the field as of 2012. It’s important to note that some of this data has changed, and as of 2020 the field has grown even bigger since. One of the most important questions I had about the field is related to the job duties and whether or not I’d enjoy working in the field. Above the pay is whether or not I’d like working or not and we can estimate this by looking at what they are responsible for. Some of the responsibilities Mckay listed are: motivate clients, customize training programs, provide nutritional advice, demonstrate proper use of equipments and technique, and sell information about products and programs that are available. All of these things are things that I am super passionate about and extremely interested in. I love making workout routines. I love motivating others. I love working on technique and learning/teaching different types of exercises. I love nutrition. Most of the things that I would be responsible for as a personal trainer are all things that I am passionate about. Whether I’m good at these things or not is an entirely different question but there’s always room to grow and improve in that aspect.

Academic Journal

            The academic journal I’ve found for my profession is called “Is What You See What You Get? Perceptions of Personal Trainers’ Competence, Knowledge, and Preferred Sex of Personal Trainer Relative to Physique” written by a host of different professors.” The main thesis of this journal is that clients of personal trainers largely mold their opinions based on their physical appearance. “Similarly, Melton et al. (18) also found that PTs believe physique plays a critical role in how clients perceive them” (Kendrick 2). This is a statement the writer makes based on previous evidence that was provided. This answers a question that I did not originally include but is important regardless.

What kind of experience/credentials are required to become a personal trainer? “Melton et al. (18) identified personal training knowledge as an important aspect of a successful PT through their construct of “credentials,” which includes a college education and proper certification” (Kendrick 1). To get hired as a personal trainer, most gyms will not directly require a college degree but having one related to the field will certainly set you apart and may enable you to earn more in the long run or move up in the field faster than someone that lacks a degree. There are also several different certifications that can be earned, but there is more than just education/certifications. Your personal fitness level/physique level is of huge importance. You must be able to walk the walk before you can talk the talk, especially in the field of personal training.

Infographic

Earlier I looked into how much personal trainers usually make but the findings were not too helpful. It showed how much many big-box gyms pay but it didn’t give a very satisfying answer. To the right is an infographic that gives a more wholesome picture of what the personal training scene actually looks like and what they make on average:

            As you can see, males are more prominent in the field. A large percent of them are also self employed and this is significant as this majorly affects income and where your client comes from. If you work for a gym, you will be helping all the clients of the gym. If you’re independent, you can get contracted by gyms meaning they will direct their customers to you. You can also source your own clients by word of mouth, social media and everything else but this takes much more effort. For independent personal trainers, social media is huge. As the picture states, the average salary is $55,158. This isn’t the profession to go in if you’re looking for riches but depending on where you live it’ll pay the bills. This is all I’m looking for, so that’s great. It also looks like most of the people in the field have very little experience, so it shouldn’t be too hard to enter into the field and this can be great in the sense that with more experience down the road you will be set apart from the rest.

Works Cited

Lofaso, Daniel, and Fitness M. CMO for. “Personal Trainer Salary Research shows the Highest Paying Gyms.” Club Industry, 2019. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/docview/2231318620?accountid=2909.

McKay, Dawn Rosenberg. “What Is It Like to Be a Fitness Trainer?” The Balance Careers, The Balance Careers, 7 Dec. 2018, http://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-it-like-to-be-a-fitness-trainer-526019.

Melton et al. (18) identified personal training knowledge as an important aspect of a successful PT through their construct of “credentials,” which includes a college education and proper certification

Rhetorical Analysis of Bartholomae’s ‘Inventing the University’

            Dr. David Bartholomae’s “Inventing the University” is an academic journal written to professors. More specifically; English/Writing professors. Bartholomae begins by explaining the phrase “Inventing the University”. Bartholomae then dives into an essay written by one of his students and adds his own insight on what his student did well and what the student needed to improve. He continues to explain that the student must learn to use the language of the discourse he is writing about. Bartholomae furthers this and describes that students often fail to make an academic conclusion and instead add in their own advice (6). Bartholomae explains how the use of the specified language must flow through the writer instead of the writer coming up with the language himself (8). He furthers this by explaining that it’s the professor’s job to teach the students to revise their writing for the reader in mind. Bartholomae also talks about how the student must learn to use another language, that of which belongs to someone with wisdom on the discourse, in order to speak with authority (17). Bartholomae concludes the paper by saying that students need to learn to mimic the “distinctive register” of the academic discourse they are trying to write for before they know enough to actually write for the specified discourse (19). He finishes this and adds that students need to be evaluated based on their ability to establish authority (20).

Purpose/Audience

Analyzing Bartholomae’s “Inventing the University” was relatively difficult. At first glance, it seems as though he was writing to students. More specifically, students in college-level writing and reading courses. Reading further into the journal, and it seems as though this is not the case. Bartholomae’s true purpose is to better equip professors with the methods to teach their students. He’s writing to English professors. In the text, Bartholomae explains “Teaching students to revise for readers, then, will better prepare them to write initially with a reader in mind” (8). Bartholomae is trying to explain to teachers that readers must learn to write for the targeted audience.

Content Analysis

“Inventing the University” written by Dr. David Bartholomae is a well written piece that

takes a look at the way students learn to use the language of the discourse they are writing for. Bartholomae specifically gives examples of some of his students’ essays and shows how they adapt and use the language of the discourse. Bartholomae states that his student “knew that university faculty would be reading and evaluating his essay, and so he wrote for them”(6). He goes on to explain that despite the student not having much experience on the subject, he does a good job using the language and even defines himself as a fellow researcher instead of just a normal high school student (6). Here Bartholomae is trying to explain that students need to write in this manner when they take on a discourse.

Organization, language, and style

“Inventing the University” by Dr. David Bartholomae was well organized and the language used was very fitting for his purpose. I’d argue that he used a ‘Toulmin’ style to structure his argument as he provided several examples and followed them up with very logical insight. Bartholomae presents his argument in a way that is ever so slightly sarcastic. I personally did not pick up on this tone until reading his work a second time. However, the overarching tone of his work is academic. He does a good job staying objective and providing evidence for his claims, and he manages to add to this by using language that supports his central theme.

Evidence

“Inventing the University” by Dr. David Bartholomae contains more than enough evidence to back up the claims that are made. One of Bartholomae’s main claims is that “ Our students, I’ve said, have to appropriate (or be appropriated by) a  specialized discourse, and they have to do this as though they were easily  or comfortably one with their audience” (9). He backs this up and explains how professors can help their students learn by conducting exercises in which the students take on the role of being one of those that they are writing to. “I think that all writers, in order to write, must imagine for themselves the privilege of being “insiders” -that is, of being both inside an established and powerful discourse, and of being granted a  special right to speak” (10).

Overall Assessment

            After first reading Dr. David Bartholomae’s “Inventing the University”, it took a while for Bartholomae’s points and overall message to reveal itself to me. What was first revealed to me was that Bartholomae was not writing to students. Bartholomae says that “Teachers, as a  result, could be more precise and helpful when they ask students to “think,” “argue,” “de-scribe,” or “define” (12). Here it becomes clear that he is writing to professors, not their students. With ‘Inventing the University’, Bartholomae was attempting to help equip English and Writing professors with ways that they can help their students write and adopt a language that is not their own. This publication is extremely useful, as I’ve never realized how important it is for writers to manipulate language to appear as if they are one with those they are writing to.

Conclusion

            Bartholomae did a great job touching on students’ need to adopt a language and write for a discourse and the proper ways to do so. His points were very well received, and now I know as a student how I can better write to my audience by becoming one with them by use of language. When writing to different discourses and professors, I will keep Bartholomae’s points in mind and try to act as if my audience are my fellow peers and speak to them as such.