Unveiling the Journey, part I

Written by: Sarah Angelica

Weaving the tapestry of life, my story is woven with threads of triumph and tribulation, each strand contributing to the intricate narrative of who I am today. I’d like to share my journey of overcoming imposter syndrome, learning self-confidence and self-discovery of who I am. From the depths of confusion to the radiant embrace of light and love, my journey into the health and fitness field started in 2010.

During this time, I started college at Middle Tennessee State University, where I later graduated with a Bachelor’s in Exercise Science. I was ecstatic to go to one of the biggest colleges in Tennessee! It was a fresh start and exciting change of pace from a town that has only 1 stop light, the school was K-12 and everyone knew everyone and often even knew their parents or grandparents.

My best friend, Marquis influenced me to leave the small quaint town we grew up in. He initially started his freshman college year at MTSU. And I would visit him on campus and stay with him (he didn’t have a dormmate luckily). The first place Marquis took me too, was the campus rec. He knew that I had started going to the gym in our hometown and wanted to show me the grandness of a college gym. I loved the variety of workout options such as a rock climbing wall, Olympic swimming pool, indoor track, and so many machines and weights to workout with. Plus, I eyed many good-looking college gym goers there also! Marquis knew the exact recipe to lure me there for college! And, yes, I was quickly impressed!

When I arrived at MTSU, I first majored in Nursing. I took the steps to earn my CNA license before moving. I envisioned my future career as an RN, serving people less fortunate with their health. I anticipated many of my future patients may lose the ability to care for themselves, have their health diminish significantly or gone completely. My time training as a nurse impacted my ability to empathize with everyone on this Earth. It opened my eyes to my true calling in life! Instead of treating people that were already in poor health, I decided to help people on the front end. I wanted to learn how to prevent declining health, by taking a preventative approach versus treating disease and ailment. I transitioned to study Exercise Science with a focus on Kinesiology.  

During my transition to MTSU and college life, I become familiar with the campus rec rather quickly! I purchased a bike to get around campus. I always had an active mindset. I liked to move, discover, and learn! Those are still some of my core principles in my health. During this time, I practiced a lot of cardio activities: stair master, biking, walking, sometimes running, High Intensity Interval Training (“HIIT”)… basically, anything that would challenge me and increase my heart rate. I had little experience with weightlifting at the time. I honestly didn’t know any women from back home that lifted weights. Lifting weights was such a foreign concept to me at that time.

Now, I never fell into the mindset that weight lifting would make me too bulky. Instead I was fascinated by weight lifting. I wanted to grow a peach and my thighs like one of my heroes, Beyonce, but I also wanted to have nice arms like Michele Obama and build a chiseled superhero look! However, I never had a woman role model in person that inspired me to train and lift weights and explore the depths of hypertrophy. Finally, after I stumbled across numerous Dana Linn-Bailey YouTube videos and discovered some bad-ass women on Instagram (back when IG was just pictures that were not heavily photoshopped), I decided to step in the weight room and build muscle!

Optimizing my health through weight lifting required a lot of practice, discipline, and learning! There are many things to learn such as the recovery process, water and protein intake, sleep schedule and so many contributing factors that affect our ability to gain muscle. I started with a steep learning curve. I didn’t always have every aspect perfect. However, the consistent practice of exercise I built has now become one of my forever habits. I have learned it’s a joy to move my body! The gym became my place of therapy and comfort. A place I knew I could check into and zone out on current life challenges. This was when my journey of self-discovery really began!

Today, I am grateful for all the lessons I learned at MTSU that allowed to delve into the world of exercise. Working out with like minded people, teaching others how to exercise properly, motivating numerous clients to make wise choices and improve their health has been incredibly rewarding in my life. I am excited to pass on the exercise, health and fitness knowledge I have learned to my clients. My goal is to create a healthier world, one person at a time.