“I started to weight lift the summer of my first year of football, from there I really enjoyed it so I decided to take strength training during my freshman year. But I would only start taking weight lifting seriously because of Brice Hall during my freshmen season of wrestling. I really looked up to Brice for his strength and his athleticism and I wanted to become as great as he was. So after Wrestling, I got a gym membership to the Rockbridge YMCA, which I regularly go to everyday. My motivation to keep going comes down to the thought that I need to prove something to myself, that I will be better today than I was yesterday. Sappy and unoriginal as it sounds, it really is the truth for me, I was a big kid growing up and I was straight up lazy, I wasted so much time doing nothing with myself and I was always used to being called big for my size. In a way, that feeling of past self always makes me want more, because no matter how much I lift, I still see my old self. Even though I hate my old self and that feeling, I don’t believe that will ever change for me. Thankfully my friends Roman Wilhelm and Markus Nelson have helped me grow more in weight lifting, and I’ve befriended much more that keeps me going and my spirit high when I get to see them too at the gym. In the end, the gym has become much more than just a hobby, it’s become my life, passion, and pride. For the future, I just want to get bigger and stronger, if I can achieve that, everything else is good with me.” -Sophomore Chase Reynolds