Fire Fitness member Kendall Fischer (far left) competes in TR March Madness
tournament, held March 26 at Haws Athletic Center.
Fire Fitness is a club igniting the motivational flame in TCC students who want to better their health and wellness.
It’s based on TR Campus, but students from all campuses are welcome to join. Fire Fitness prioritizes productivity and improvement, instead of viewing wellness strictly through numbers. Officers work with University of Texas at Arlington nursing programs to ensure the focus is on overall health and wellness, not just fitness.
Club president Kadija Wilson realizes student’s schedules are a big obstacle when it comes to staying on top of their fitness. The club holds weekly workouts, as well as providing an off-campus workout regimen for members unable to attend.
“What you put in is what you get out,” Wilson said.
As a TR kinesiology student and devout Christian, Wilson’s ultimate goal is to promote natural healing by building a wellness center based on the seven parables of Jesus.
“Mind, body and spirit – all three have to be aligned,” Wilson said. “If all of us are healthy, all of us are fit and all of us are just in love with ourselves, I feel like it’ll be a better place.”
Wilson warns against taking shortcuts like plastic surgery or GLP-1s like Ozempic because of the possible side effects, addiction risk and the high probability of gaining weight back. She also highlights natural alternatives used in her own weight-loss journey, recommending a blend of hot water, ginger, lemon and mint to suppress appetite.
“I didn’t take the easy way out. Was it difficult? Yes, it was,” Wilson said. “But it’s even more rewarding.”
Fire Fitness was originally the Kinesiology Club, conceptualized by instructor Melanie Rose in spring 2024.
“Since some of the students were not kinesiology majors, they decided to change it to Fire Fitness,” she said. “This represented their thoughts about health and wellness. … Being on fire for healthy lifestyles and engaging in creative workouts that they deemed were fire.”
The club had begun to fade away by fall 2025, when Wilson saw Rose wearing an old Fire Fitness T-shirt and mistook the design for a ministry. After asking about it and learning that it was a fitness club, she showed interest but was informed by Rose that there weren’t enough members at the time.
Wilson and many of her classmates took initiative to quickly fix that. It has now grown to over 30 members, with plans of setting up campus-versus-campus challenges.
“[Fire Fitness was] part of our Rec Fest event in January where they had some fitness challenges for students, and we promoted upcoming rec sports events,” said Brianna Gomez, a TR student activities development specialist.
Members are given training routines to follow leading up to events, in order to see greater success and, more importantly, prevent injuries. Wilson emphasizes involvement in all events related to the club.
“The more that we are involved, the more we can tell people ‘No, we’re not just promoting a club. We’re actually promoting wellness around here,’” she said.
Since Rec Fest, students in Fire Fitness have participated in other events like Bestie Yoga and a three-on-three basketball tournament inspired by the NCAA March Madness tournament.
One of the club’s newer members, Kendall Fischer, was a versatile and instrumental player for the championship winning team, the Benchwarmers. Another member, Marc Tamrakar, operated the scoreboard.
Fischer described Fire Fitness as “community, just a bunch of us coming together doing things that we enjoy.”
The club is planning a series of events spanning the rest of the year, even dedicating the entire month of October to celebrating fitness. During “FitTober,” it will host many events, including a field day where members and their families are invited.
Wilson encourages people to pay attention to their mental health as well.
“It’s just getting people involved and in tune with themselves,” she said. “A lot of people have health issues they don’t even know about until it’s too far gone.”
Rose sees real results when it comes to her students involved with the club.
“The sense of community, teamwork and increased confidence have been the biggest takeaways,” she said.
