Georgia Southern University College Degree Review
Location
Georgia Southern University,
Statesboro, Georgia
Degree
What was your college like?
How was the location? How were the facilities?
Georgia Southern is a mid-size university and
has your typical college town atmosphere. It’s located in Statesboro, and the
closest major city is Savannah, which is just under an hour drive. All the
businesses around town cater to the students, and during Spring and Fall
semester, the students actually make up the majority of the city’s population.
It has all the aspects of a traditional
university – A big Greek culture, a state-of-the-art indoor gym facility,
division I Varsity Sports, a big Intramurals program, tons of clubs and ways to
get involved on campus, etc. Probably a ton of other stuff I can’t think of
because I was primarily interested in sports.
They also have a Human Performance Lab, a
Human Cadaver Lab, Biomechanics Lab, which includes some expensive equipment
such as a DEXA and a Bioelectrical Impedance setups for body composition
testing.
What were the Studies and
Faculty Like ?
At Georgia
Southern, I went through the Exercise Science Program, and it was no joke – they
also have an Athletic Training Program, which is more geared toward
injury-prevention.
If I had to
rate it, I’d say Hard. However, I truly believe that because of the coursework
I’m ahead of the vast majority of other Exercise Science graduates around the
country. I routinely hear of our Exercise Science grads going on to Physical
Therapy school and saying the first few years were a review and that they felt
they were miles ahead of other students – this is no surprise to me because the
coursework was pretty rigorous and the faculty expects the best from you, as a
student.
The best
thing about the coursework is that it’s very hands on. I remember in the
Exercise Prescription Class, we learned to properly take heart rates, blood
pressures, and administer VO2 max tests. In another class, we actually
practiced administering body fat tests and other performance tests – part of the
class even had us working hours in the Wellness Center, performing fitness
assessments on other students.
The faculty is passionate, and
they really are passionate about preparing their students in the health and
fitness fields. Personally, I credit my ability to easily pass the CSCS (an
advanced strength and conditioning certification) almost entirely to what I went
through in my Biophysiology, Exercise Physiology, and Biomechanics classes.
This certification instantly put me in another category at a very young age as a
trainer.
What are
you doing now and how did your college degree help/hinder you with your current
job as a personal trainer (or related field)?
I am a personal trainer.
Honestly, I thought for a long time that I’d
go into some kind of more traditional business field, despite my chosen major.
My choice to be a personal trainer stemmed from a combination of things – First,
the faculty was very helpful in helping students find internships and counseling
students on their career paths. The department is small enough for you to have
this kind of close relationship with a lot of the professors.
What made the decision the easiest was a
course I took my senior year that’s sole purpose was to help us pass the ACE
Personal Trainer Certification – the coursework was very hands-on and directly
reflected the content on the actual test. Coming out with a good certification
under my belt, personal training was a good option for me.
It’s also important that I had the chance to
spend time working shifts at the Wellness Center, performing Fitness Assessments
and Body Fat/Body Composition tests on real people. I found this to be
extremely valuable, because it can be a pain finding places where you can get
your feet wet and actual practice on real people! I credit my early confidence
in performing these assessments to being taught the proper way and actually
having a chance to practice in college.
Rating of
College Degree and Final Words
10 – Georgia Southern takes this department
seriously, and there are a ton of opportunities that I didn’t mention here for
you to take advantage of – Go Eagles!
Georgia Southern College Degree Review
Provided by
Doug Groce -
Personal Trainer
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Colleges
We hope the Georgia Southern University College Degree
Review will help you narrow down
your choices for college. Learn more about going to college with
intensions of being a future personal trainer.
College
Loans
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education paid for. Most people don't. Fortunately the government
provides federal student loans for students at most colleges.
College Loan Consolidation
If you used college loans to get your degree at the university you will have
to pay them back directly after graduation and most people seek a consolidation
loan with a low interest rate.
Phoenix Colleges
The University of Phoenix is the largest
online college to get your degree
solely online and there may be exercise science and kinesiology programs coming
soon. It is a good idea to check back frequently.
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