As a little girl, there was nothing I loved more about school than going to gym class. Growing up with three extremely athletic brothers made it very hard for me to avoid sports, so I grew to love them. I looked forward to the enjoyable whole class games and the opportunity to get a break from all of the school work. I have always appreciated having gym classes because it was a chance to mix up the day.

As my senior year approached I was excited to begin my final gym class ever! I figured senior gym would be one of the classes I would be excited to go to, but instead, it is not.

I was thrilled to once again play the games that I loved in middle school such as break out, Titanic, and capture the flag. Little did I know it would be nothing like this.

The moment I stepped foot into what would be my class for the next five months, I was worried. I was in a class dominated by boys.

As always, the boys get extremely competitive in whatever we do in class, and rarely ever give the girls a chance to be a part of it. Although we may be on the same team for a game of “bocker” (soccer and basketball) the chances of the girls touching the ball are slim to none.

Not only does it stink to stand around for an entire gym class barely being included in a game, but not being given a chance to show that we may actually be good at a game gets old quickly.

Another aspect of senior gym that didn’t go as I thought was the chance to choose the games we did. Many of the activities we do in class fit well with what boys enjoy and are good at, such as football, can-jam, and bocker.

Senior gym would be even better if you had the opportunity to have some say in what you do. What if there was a class that allowed you to go in the weight room and work out, or a class that offered yard games, and even a class with the typical soccer, basketball, and flag football?

If this change were to be made, the excitement that I once had for gym would most definitely return. Not only would this change have benefited me, but there’s still the opportunity for it to benefit many others.