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From the lab to the gym: Lencioni takes learning into her own hands

Aurelia Lencioni

Aurelia Lencioni came to Boise State undeclared, unsure of what path was right for her. She had always enjoyed artistic swimming, having competed at the national level for 13 years with her hometown team in Bozeman, Montana. She knew that she wanted to be around sports and movement and she discovered kinesiology was the perfect academic fit. She graduated this last spring with her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology fueled with passion.

As part of her studies, Lencioni took a conditioning procedures class and an accompanying lab with a program called the Fitness Challenge. Aside from attending a lab and lecture, students in this class are required to design a fitness and strength plan after being assigned to a random Boise State faculty or staff member. The instructor for the course would not be present with the students and their clients, allowing students to rely on only themselves and the concepts they learned from the lectures and labs. Each student would work on campus in the kinesiology weight room and begin to apply a tailored plan to their client. The students assessed baseline measurements of their employee client, including body mass index, blood pressure, heart rate and a one repetition max of a few selected strength exercises. After ten weeks, the statistics between each employee in the challenge were compared to see who improved the most, giving the element of a challenge. While most students had one client, Lencioni had two and she had to train them at the same time.

Aurelia Lencioni

Lencioni saw this experience as an opportunity to share her experience and the ideas she had taken away from the course and Fitness Challenge. Lencioni explained with high regards that the instructor Shawn Simonson, professor of kinesiology, creates an environment where actual learning becomes possible, inspiring the students to take learning into their own hands.

“When I approached him about writing an article, he was so ready to help me,” Lencioni said. “We met weekly during the semester. He spent so much time editing and rephrasing to help me, we even went into the summer a bit. It was awesome to work with him.”

Lencioni worked on the article for seven months with no funding or compensation for her time. There is a strong need for this kind of research but minimal resources and money available with the department. Lencioni took these challenges in stride and worked with Simonson to bring the manuscript to fruition.
“Aurelia was a unique student in that she asked tough questions and was then willing and able to do the work to answer those questions; thus, the article,” Simonson said. “She had an idea to start with and was open to being challenged and receptive to coaching to transform her idea into an actionable plan and project. A part of my teaching philosophy and practice is to make students appropriately uncomfortable because one has to be uncomfortable to grow and Aurelia accepted that and pushed herself to grow as a student, researcher, and author. She did not look for the easy way, she looked for the right way.”
Lencioni hopes her story will bring attention to what is needed for students to succeed at Boise State in all fields. She wants people to recognize the importance of giving students practical experience while in college, instead of waiting for the degree, in order to hone interpersonal skills, communication, problem solving and self confidence.

Lencioni aims to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy and currently works as a personal trainer, strength coach and clinic aide at a local physical therapy clinic in the Treasure Valley.