#18 "A Race to the Front Row"

It is a well known fact that people are more motivated to do better when there is a prize  in the end. Athletes train hard to win. Students study hard to receive an award. With that concept in mind, gyms nowadays place their "students" in a position where they compete with others and themselves to receive the prize, which in this case, is the honor of being in the front row. Gyms such as SoulCycle and AKT in Motion challenge their students to push themselves and do their best. To do so, they make the front row a special priviledge for the ones who are more motivated and overall, do better. By doing so, people join a race to the front row. They set a goal and work hard to achieve it, and when they do, the sense of accomplishment motivates them more. "As Michel Foucalt would say, 'the gaze', even if imaginary, makes us disciplined to work harder," and like this, people begin their journey to be fit and achieve their ultimate goal: the front row.
Courtney Rubin, author of this article, writes about the new method and situations people are placed in gyms today. Her article is formal yet casual, and her overall tone is neutral to positive. She does a superb job describing the "race" by inserting actual students' opinions and experiences, and how it motivates and affects each individual. I, personally, enjoyed this article; it depicted how this method of motivation works not only in studies and athletic competitions, but also in our daily life activities, such as going to the gym. Although there was an individual in the article that did not enjoy "the race" or "the front row", I assume that like most others, it would affect me and motivate me to reach the front row.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/style/a-race-to-the-front-row.html?ref=fashion&_r=0