If you stop by Taylor University’s gym, known as the Well, anytime after 3 p.m., you’ll notice that it is packed.
From freshmen to seniors, students seeking to get in shape and stay healthy flood the Well and sometimes struggle to find room, Michael Keefer, a freshman exercise science major at Taylor who works out five days a week, said.
Keefer has seen the difference firsthand, noting how much busier it has gotten since students returned from J-term break.
The 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. window is the busiest, Amanda Bowman, a senior Christian ministry major and student supervisor at the Kesler Student Activities Center (KSAC), said.
“That’s when people start practices and get out of classes,” she said. “Those are usually the really busy hours.”
Despite the crowding, the Well remains a positive space.
“Everybody's really nice and you just have to work [yourself] in,” Keefer said, “so it's pretty chill.”
Still, space is limited. The most commonly used equipment includes the bench presses, squat racks, dumbbells, and free weights, Keefer said.
Treadmills are another high-demand item and a point of frustration, Bella Taylor, a freshman at Taylor University who works the Well desk, said.
“There’s been a few problems...mainly with the treadmills,” Taylor said. “They’re just getting older.”
More frequent deep cleans and updated equipment would solve that problem, Taylor said.
Many students have expressed frustration at the lack of working treadmills, with freshman English and theatre education major Julianne Cowart resorting to running outside instead of fighting for a treadmill. Students remain unsure how long it will take for the treadmills to be fixed.
Though there are lots of options to work out in the Well, students find it irritating when the treadmills are constantly broken, Keefer said.
“It does get annoying here and there,” Keefer said. “We don't really have much stuff in there, anyways. So whenever things are broken down...”
Beyond repairs, Bowman expressed hope for updates and expansion.
“I would love to see it be expanded and get new equipment,” Bowman said. “It’s something that Taylor students really use a lot and they love. People find a lot of community there.”
As a Christian ministry major writing her senior project on the inclusion of health and wellness in faith, Bowman sees the Well as more than just a workout space, she said.
Bowman sees the integral role the Well plays within the Taylor community and dreams of seeing it improved and expanded.
“I've seen a lot of people find a sense of belonging there, and I think I would like to see it taken care of,” she said. “It would be cool if it could be bigger and be able to include more people, so people don't feel like it's not somewhere they fit.”
On the front desk in the Well is a verse from Isaiah 55:1, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.”
More than just a place to work out, the Well is a place of community, where students who are thirsty can drink from the well.
