APEM IN TAMPA- AAHPERD CONFERENCE

Lat week I was given the opportunity to attend an AAHPERD national conference in Tampa, Florida. While being in Tampa is was an eye opener to me but an experience I will never forget. I first went on the trip knowing two people, now I can walk away and say I know twenty people and we have all bonded together and shared the whole experience together. I also realized that I should wear my Cortland Red Dragon logo proudly. I remember walking around the convention center and being stopped by everyone and them saying you go to Cortland what a great program. I didn’t realize how well known Cortland was, and makes me want to work that much harder to keep Cortland standards high.
Being only a junior and a shy and easily intimated person I didn’t have the courage to go up to other people in the exhibition lounge and talk to them but I watched my fellow peers, and the actions they took to continue on with their education. I learned a lot from my older peers and to be more confident in myself and networking is important in this line of business. My father always told me to become a teacher it wasn’t until I actually got into the classroom where I learned that I am doing something that I really loved. At the conference I was complete interested in all the sessions I attended and I knew from that moment I was going to be happy waking up every morning going into a classroom of students and teach them something I love. While at the conference I tried to attend session dealing with female athletes. It has always been a dream of mine to be the next Pat Summit, and know I need to start taking strides to get there. I want to share my love for the game with other athletes and keep them physical active for life.
At the convention I was also able to take part in Professor Yang’s presentation of exergames. It was a complete honor to be apart of his presentation. I was able to talk to professional and show them how technology can be used in the classroom. One of my favorite exergames is stepping while playing a video game. Once you stop stepping the video game stops playing, and quite a work out that is from experience. Overall, I learned a tremendous amount on this trip and has given me a whole new perspective on my future. I highly recommend all Physical Education Majors to attend a AAHPERD conference and they can walk away learning more then what they came with.