All photography provided by Jonathan Garcia

My Academic Journey

My name is Jonathan Garcia. I am pursuing an Undergraduate degree in Exercise Science at the Indiana University Indianapolis. I am also enlisted in the United States Army Reserves. I serve as an Intelligence analyst in the Army Reserves with a secondary specialty as an Occupational Therapy assistant. I was born in Stuttgart, Germany while my father finished his 22-year enlistment and retired as a Sergeant First Class. (E-7). I have been attending IUPUI (IU Indy now) since the fall of 2018 and have enjoyed studying in an urban environment. I am on track to finish this degree in the fall of 2025, a 4-year degree that will take me 7 years to complete. This is almost double the time it should take to achieve a degree for most people. This means I have a unique experience that is my own to tell. It is full of failure, despair and overall perseverance. Encapsulated with the compassion and understanding. My first year I would park at the IVY Tech Meridian campus to enjoy a 45 minute commute by foot as I practiced Japanese. I miss that youthful spirit of myself; a I want to repeat that behavior because that’s what I love most about myself. I would work at a gym, (CrossFit Dogfight) Clean, greet members as they walked through the door, converse, and network with wonderful people. Then once I realized my grades would drop, I went on academic probation, then the Army sent me to Florida. I realized I needed help, and I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to cope with that experience and I questioned everything about my actions. I remember walking to IU CAPS (counseling and psychological services) and saying, “I need help”. That was when I knew I had to drop chemistry because there was something more important I needed to discover. I’ve learned Psychiatric interventions are not easy and being open, vulnerable and honest with yourself in the presence of a professional guide is a treacherous voyage that I simply couldn’t do alone. I was able to Identify a neurodivergent disorder (ADD) and am developing the skills required to BE. Be me, and radically accept the wonderful, genuine person that I am. The tools that therapy offers allows me to control impulses, and be compassionate to others in their current state in life. I will still remember the reason I chose to stick with the Kinesiology. “I want to help people stay out of the hospital, instead of treating people that are already sick.” That was my reasoning for not wanting to pursue medicine, however, realistically. My grades weren’t good enough, but my determination is the essence of my character. To turn weaknesses into virtues, That’s the skill I’ve learned in Academia and I continue to nourish it everyday.

Theory and Practice of Cardiovascular Fitness

Cardiovascular Fitness was always a strong focus at the inception of my fitness journey. The bicycle became the tool I used to condition my heart, legs, and mind. The Netherlands made it easy to commute anywhere on two wheels operated by a crank and some gears. P403 taught me that my weight loss experience is not unique. The change in body composition of the guest speaker during the course related to me a lot. He went through many diet trends and lifestyle changes to achieve the 100+ lb drop in weight. Then he went on and educated himself about nutrition; it is kind of why I ended up in the course myself. To understand the human body and find a solution to my own body’s equation. My equation contains a family history of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and various cancers. These complications are part of my genetics and are amplified by lifestyle factors. P403 forced me to look at cardiovascular Fitness in different ways and that there are not only other benefits than weight loss, but there are other methods to achieve those benefits. Fun and exciting ways, such as dance, Tabata intervals, Yoga, and resistance training, are all taught through mediums that allow the participants to enjoy the comfort of their own home or the environment of hard-working people around them. Cardiovascular exercise does not always have to be gruelling. It can be something to enjoy. Long, short, or spaced, your cardiovascular Fitness can improve.

With the expectation of running a 5k downtown with the entire class, I was excited to show improvement and that my 4-week periodization cycle was superior. Unfortunately, the hematoma I acquired from eating the pavement while cycling to campus put a minor setback in that training. Thus, to have a tolerable run, I had to wrap my leg in a band so that the fluid wouldn’t bounce around. By race day, I was able to keep a tolerable pace and took my dog along for the ride. Both of us were sore afterwards, but it turned out to be a kickstart of long 6 mile walks, and short 20 min walks throughout the week. I revived old habits in this course and developed a stronger bond with my dog. Effectively making me focus on the low intense walks of my aerobic health, to reflect, take inventory, and feel the condition I’m in every day.

Photography Assignments

Below are some photographs taken during my time in an elective at the Herron School of Art. Enjoy!

INSHAPE Indiana

After I started individual therapy at CAPS I decided to lighten my academic load by taking one class. That one class was Elementary Chemistry with Professor Anliker, the chemistry class I had to drop when I went on a 3-week mission for the military during the semester. That spring semester of 2022 I focused on regaining my health and wellbeing. I was at the National Institute of Fitness and Sport (NIFS) a lot. I was the heaviest I have been at 285+ since high school; for me, that was 12 years ago I would participate in the ROTC Morning Physical Training twice a week and then go to the gym. I took advantage of the classes offered at NIFS and just took them. I participated in Olympic weightlifting and Kettlebell fundamentals with the staff. I met the coaches; I observed how they move, learned how they teach, and improved my fitness simultaneously. During those classes and training sessions, I noticed my peers, and classmates I’ve had in the past with INSHAPE shirts on and observed training their clients at NIFS. I remember walking up to Dr. Swinford and asking if this is a part of the program. She said yes and at that time it felt like that internship was so far away. For the life of me, I couldn’t put myself in the shoes of my peers as they surpassed me to graduation and I was falling behind because I allowed my health to decline, and became fearful of math and science. One thing I knew about myself is that I perform better when I feel good; being 285+ didn’t feel good, my military career was stagnant and my progress through school drastically slowed down. The Spring Semester of 2024 when I made it to this point I was in awe of myself, disbelief really, because I was wearing the T-shirt that said “INSHAPE” and I was training my client to ACSM standards and helping them achieve their goals. I felt good, I looked good, and I was able to demonstrate and perform every movement I requested from my client with confidence. It took a lot of mental and physical training for me to be in that role. Dr. Swinford told me I did an amazing job with my client and now I can confidently step into the role of a personal trainer and know that I am safely guiding people to move efficiently, and effectively.

Undergraduate Research

I was enrolled in undergraduate research for 2 years working with Dr. Keith Naugle and one thing I learned from this experience is that sometimes things dont go as planned and that is okay. Dr Naugle noticed my skills with computers and software and utilized those strengths to help him develop a SURE III survey that will be used throughout the lifespan of the Undergraduate Research program. From now on Every student enrolled in the undergraduate research program will fill out the survey that I have designed and developed after their final semester in UG research to assess the high-impact practice of an Undergraduate Research Program within the Kinesiology Department at a Research and Teaching University. I am glad that I worked on this project individually as it allowed me to initiate action when I was not getting results from my survey. Initially, I received no response and I was forced to identify problems and flaws in my design. Was it because of graduation activities and responsibilities? Or was my survey just dreadful to finish? It was weird because it felt like I was sneaking around because nobody told me what to do. However, I took advantage of the situation and learned much about Academic Research. It is not glamorous, there are a lot of rules and procedures, ethics, and data analysis. My limitation became that I had not gathered enough data to analyze and identify the impact of UG research became hard. I couldn’t make up my own data, all I could do was wait; in the meantime, I made my Qualtrics survey more user-friendly. I taught myself how to analyze data using Microsoft Exel and now I know how to create a good-looking Survey on Qualtrics to disseminate across many platforms. Another Big confidence boost is seeing myself improve during my presentation and not having a fear that my project was not that “cool” or “interesting” compared to the other projects. I confidently presented my work and took pride in the idea that this survey was useful for gathering data about the UG students’ experience in academic research. IU Indy and Purdue Indianapolis have many research labs on campus; I know my project can cross boundaries and be integrated into more IU Indy Research program departments.

What I’ve Achieved