Health: The Expectations that I Could Never Reach
Author: Audrey Kong | Category: Unkown category | Date: 02-07-2021
From kindergarten to your sophomore of high school, you are required to participate in physical education, also known as PE. Throughout elementary school, it is all fun and games and in fifth grade, you are introduced to various tests, including running the mile, the pacer, sit and reach, the push up test, and the sit up test. Now, it does not really count until you reach eighth grade through sophomore year. Every year from the eighth grade, I never looked forward to these tests because I did not have a strong core nor could I do push ups. But the issue here was not that I could not reach the desired number, but it was how we reached that number.
There are these machines we have to use when doing the test. The sit up test was this mat with a line that the tips of your fingers had to touch for it to count. For the push up test, it was this raised platform made out of silicone and your chest had to touch a button that would beep and keep track of how many push ups you did. Now, let me clarify that everyone, and I mean everyone, had to use these machines and so, it would therefore give a disadvantage to various heights and body proportions.
I am currently 5 foot 7 ½ inches and so my arms and fingers are quite long. When doing the sit up test, it was very easy for me. Sometimes, I wouldn’t have to lift my head to touch the line because my arms are quite long. But the push up test was a whole different problem. One time, in my sophomore year, it was my turn to do the push up test. But the thing is, I could not. It was not because my arms were too weak, but rather they were too long. For my chest to touch the platform, I would have to bend my arms past 90 degrees, which is not how to do a proper push-up. As a result, I ended up with a zero because I “couldn’t” do push ups. Now for my shorter friends, some of them did not even have to bend their arms all the way because they have shorter arms, but for the sit up test, they had a harder time because they had shorter arms and fingers.
Both my friends and I felt wronged. It was not fair that these machines only fit a certain type of person and it gave advantages and disadvantages to certain people. Our PE teachers are setting expectations that are impossible for some adults to even reach, and truthfully, expectations for most PE teachers cannot reach. For example, to get an A for the mile, we had to get a 7:59 or higher, and for the pacer test, we had to reach 70-75 to get an A.
Throughout the many years I had to do PE, I felt like we were being tested and graded in the wrong way. I felt like I was being scammed in some way or that I was considered unhealthy because I could never reach those expectations. It took a toll on both my mental health and the way I view exercise. I felt ashamed every time I ran, even though I did like 8:30 miles. And even if I got an 8:15 or improved my mile time, I still felt like it was not enough to impress my teacher, or myself.
About: Audrey Kong
