Jeopardy-style games are always fun, especially when ending with a victory. St. Thomas Health and Exercise Science students attended the Northland Region of the American College of Sports Medicine Conference to learn from professionals and compete in the Quiz Bowl.
St. Thomas students, Garrett Barten and Ulyses Perez Perez gave insight into what the conference was like and what they’re doing to prepare for the next.
“This is the first time that they’ve invited us to go to the conference in years because of COVID,” Perez Perez said.
Students within the Health and Exercise Science majors were asked to attend the regional conference to learn about topics related to what they were studying in school.
“(The regional conference is where) they invited people to come speak about what they’re finding in sports medicine, specifically strength and conditioning and nutrition,” Barten said.
Universities around the area such as North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska attended the conference along with St. Thomas, each sending two teams
“We just kind of went over basic stuff from our classes and played review games in the car,” Barten said.
The students were prepped for the Quiz Bowl competition but felt even more prepared with the classes they’d already taken, and their interest in the topic influencing their careers.
“This is stuff that’s similar to what we’ll be doing in the future and attending conferences just to learn more,” Perez Perez said.
Department Chair and Associate Professor of Health and Exercise Science, Paul Mellick wrote to TommieMedia about the value of the conference and the quiz bowl victory.
“(The win) is great because they get to compete in the national quiz bowl, but it’s also great because they can further experience the professional world of health and exercise science,” Mellick wrote.
The conference is with the Northland Region of the ACSM which is the largest organization for exercise science. Mellick encouraged St. Thomas students to travel with him to the conference each year.
“We have taken a group of students now basically every year since my first year,” Mellick wrote. “It’s a great opportunity for students to learn about the profession outside of St. Thomas as well as a chance to get to know their classmates and professors.”
Going into the quiz bowl, Mellick knew he had a group of students that were up for the challenge, it was a matter of if they were experts on the topics asked.
“I was super confident our students were prepared, but also we were going up against like 22 other teams, so I knew it would be a tall task,” Mellick wrote.
The ACSM conference allowed the St. Thomas exercise science department to get its name out. The two teams that St. Thomas took, both competed in the quiz bowl, with the senior team taking the triumph.
The national conference will be held from May 30 through June 2, where the students will travel to Denver to compete in another quiz bowl and excel in their majors.
“I always enjoy these conferences because they give me a chance to also see colleagues from all over the country that I’ve met through a variety of ways,” Mellick wrote. “I’m excited to see our students take that first step into creating similar relationships!”
Abby Madsen can be reached at mads3817@stthomas.edu.