Peer Wellness Personal Statement

When I first read the E-mail from my academic advisor about the Peer Wellness Educator position, I don’t think I understood what kind of opportunity was before me. I believe that the new Peer Wellness Educator program is a job that is a great fit for what I am looking to get involved with throughout my career.
Not only does it interest me in the fact that it is very relevant to my interests, but it sounds like a lot of fun. Sure, it may be a lot of work, but being able to educate my peers on subjects that interest me sounds like a fantastic way to take a break from school work.
Even in high school I always enjoyed giving presentations and public speaking. In speech class, I was the one who would always raise my hand, so that I could give

my presentation first. I was not always like this. In middle school, I was bullied and not treated as well as the other kids, simply because I was “husky.” When I joined track and field and cross country in high school I soon began to drop that extra weight and became a student athlete with a passion for personal wellness. When I was able to become a student athlete in high school, I began to gain confidence that I never had before.
Being able to teach others what personal wellness can do for them would be something that would truly be exciting and make me happy.
Having the opportunity to be a Peer Wellness Educator would also be something that would stand out on a resume. The “Real World” is competitive, and being able to get involved with something as great as the Peer Wellness Educator program would give anyone a large amount of experience with leadership skills and working in groups which seems to be what most companies are looking for when they hire new employees.
As a Peer Wellness Educator, I would likely be working with people from all sorts of different backgrounds. We would likely have different ideas and being able to work towards an agreement would create great teamwork qualities that future workplaces look for.
While building this team, we could be establishing a successful community too. We could be building upon what the student body already knows about wellness and giving those who want to learn more, more information, and getting them ways to get involved with what we would be doing.
Overall, I am interested in being a Peer Wellness Educator this coming fall semester to be able to help my peers in becoming more knowledgeable about wellness, so that they can be as successful as they possibly can while they are enjoying their own adventure at Iowa State.

When I was younger I always struggled with a very unbalanced and unhealthy diet and was considered overweight.

Being overweight is not optimal, no matter what age. Even in elementary and middle school it can have a huge impact on someone’s life. Being overweight, I decided it was necessary to take control of my diet, and start working out. Along with this I became too focused on a number on the scale. During my junior year of cross country, I put 600 miles of training under my belt in the summer, and went from a weight of 145 pounds to a measly 128 pounds. With the mindset of, the lighter I was the faster that I would be, I soon learned that I was not actually helping myself. During cross country, I was always cold in class, and learned that I simply was not getting enough food in my body. After visiting a doctor and having a blood test I learned I was anemic. I was not getting enough iron in my diet, and it was hurting my performance and destroying the great potential of all the training I had put into cross country that summer. After cross country, I decided I was “bulking” and figured I would eat anything I wanted. By New Year’s Eve I was weighing around 160 pounds, and felt terrible. Putting on over 30 pounds in a few short months did not set me up for success. After wanting to get healthy again I began to cut my calories to a very small amount, much under my maintenance calories. This shortly led to late nights waiting for everyone to go to bed so I could spend long periods of time in the kitchen eating foods that made me feel good at the time, but made me feel terrible the next morning. I had developed Binge Eating Disorder and lost my healthy relationship with food that I once had. It was a long process, but eventually I found inspiration on YouTube and other social media that led me back to healthy eating habits. I began to track my calories again in the MyFitnessPal app almost every day, and began to gain confidence back in myself. I used resources to

recover from my own disorder and began to take interest in other people’s stories. I became more and more knowledgeable everyday about what a healthy diet looks like, and going through such an experience made me discover my true passion. I never wished that I would have developed a disorder like I did, but having this experience only made me that much stronger.
I think with a background like mine, where I overcame my own personal wellness obstacles, I can be there for someone when they need help with their obstacles whatever they may be. Through Iowa State’s Peer Wellness Educator program, I feel like I can make a difference on campus, and educate others about enhancing their holistic well-being.

One of the most common college student issues that is not challenged enough is the partying scene. Whether it be underage or not, there is a large amount of college students that go out every weekend and cannot recall what they did the night before. The issue here is that most students have the idea that they can do whatever now with no affect to their health. That is where we as Peer Wellness Educators come in and teach our peers about the consequences to our health and well-being from alcohol and drug usage.
At Iowa State, we already require all freshman to go through AlcoholEdu before they start their adventure. By the time they show up, and get in the swing of their weekly schedules, such a short course is not enough to affect the student’s beliefs on the issue. If there was a greater effort in trying to persuade the population of students to refrain from drinking, I believe that we would see a rise in general wellness all around campus. We as Peer Wellness Educators should take the initiative to connect with our peers by creating presentations, scheduling events, and making the student body want to know more about what they can do to be more successful while at Iowa State.
Alcohol is not the only problem that college students get their hands on either. Illegal drugs were a known problem where I lived on campus this last school year. It didn’t matter what day of the week it was, it was common to come back to my dorm and for the whole floor to have a smell that was caused from illegal usage of marijuana. Like alcohol, marijuana, or any illegal drug is a great distraction and health concern to everyone. It’s especially concerning to us college students because we are at Iowa State to get an education, but when my peers get distracted by things like drugs and alcohol, they are not doing what is best for them.
If we can get that through to the population of students who just don’t understand what they are doing to themselves, then there would be a huge positive impact. I believe hosting events, scheduling public speakers, creating presentations, and making it seen all around campus what these negative things can do to their well-being, then we would see a change for the better.
The first thing I think that we would immediately see is higher test scores. Alcohol is damaging to the brain, and distracts students from learning the information that they are trying to learn in lecture. Along with lecture, I believe keeping the awareness high year-round would make more students attend the lectures that they are signed up for, that they may skip because of the side effects of drugs or alcohol. Attacking major problems like drugs and alcohol is one way that Peer Wellness Educators can make a difference on campus.