Midshipman 1/C Alejandro Mata will be competing in a fitness competition on the 30th July 2016. Let's congratulate him and support him as he competes! Good Luck Midshipman Mata!

Event

The World Beauty Fitness and Fashion (WBFF) NYC Weekend

Date: Saturday, 30th July 2016

Time: Morning (Prejudging) – 1100

             Evening – To be determined

Location: The Symphony Space

Location Address: 2537 Broadway, New York, NY, 10025, United States

Ticket Information

Website: http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/9263/Theatre/wbff-new-york-fitness-fashion-spectacular

Expected Run Time: 240 minutes

Ticket Prices: Either $65 or $95 depending upon the choice of seat

Student Activities is exploring the possibility of streaming the show live in Land Hall this Saturday.  Stand by for emails on this.

Mr. Mata has had an amazing journey.  Read his story below:

My Fitness Journey

Close your eyes. Imagine yourself looking into a mirror. Take a deep long look at yourself. Do you like what you see? Is this the person you hoped to become one day? For these are the questions that I asked myself as I stared into the mirror during the fall of 2012. At that point in time, my health was on a downward spiral as I was finishing up my first year at a nearby community college. I was completely focused on proving that I could keep up with academics at one of our country’s service academies. I was eating anything and everything I could get my hands on. During that long look in the mirror, I continuously asked myself the following: How could I go from being a high school athlete into what I am now? I was disgusted with myself, had no sense of self-worth, and lacked overall confidence.  It was not until near the start of my second year of community college that I decided to make a change. I first established healthy eating habits and start to incorporate some of the weight lifting workouts that I could recall from high school athletics. I started to see results after several months and began feeling good about myself. Just in time too, for a month later I gained entrance into the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Going into the academy I again wanted change, but looked to fitness as a means of professional development. I wanted to be a better, stronger version of myself once I successfully graduated. That was and still is my overall goal while here. My fitness journey became skewed as I struggled with the anxiety and stress of the vigorous academics both at the institution and out at sea. It was not until the end of my freshmen year (plebe year) that my fitness journey transformed into something new. The overall goal that I established upon entry remained fixed in my mind, but I began to look at fitness as a way to overcome those stresses and anxieties that accompanied the institution’s academics. I started to realize that I was in a place where it didn’t matter how smart you were, but what mattered most was how much heart you put into it.  From that point on, I envisioned fitness as a way to strengthen my overall mentality. I started to envision my tough workouts as future battles and or obstacles that I would one day take on. I began to increase the amount of weight I was lifting and started to consume everything that I could get my hands on at our dining hall. I drifted away from that healthier and in shape person I once was in the past for a stronger version of myself. Each day I did away with those stresses and anxieties that academics had to offer by working out. Once my head phones were in and my playlist was on, I was in my own little world where everything else seemed to fade away. I only focused on my current workout, breathing, and the vision of the workout as a battle and or obstacle that I would take head on throughout the academic year. I started to train my body so that my mind would follow.   

Near the halfway mark of my junior year, just this past April, I began to get back on track in terms of becoming a healthier version of myself. This time however, it was different. I had obtained more muscle than what I previously had in the past and was a far stronger person then I once was, but I did not look healthy at all. I continued to work out, with the only changes being the terms of my diet. The man you see on stage is a product of the years of lifting, gaining and cutting weight. All during that time, my fitness journey transformed along the way. From getting into shape at the beginning, to dealing with stress and anxiety, to becoming a stronger version of myself, and then finally on to the man I once envisioned in my mind. I will always care about my overall health, but fitness is my anchor. It anchors me down and will always be incorporated into my lifestyle along with a healthy eating plan. For we take time out of our daily lives for the things we care about the most.

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