By Emmy Wolfe, Caelyn Jischke & Hailey Oskey
As the season starts to change and the temperature becomes warmer, why not get outside and take a break?
The Department of Exercise is Medicine (EIMOC) is hosting a weekly opportunity for students to take a break from their busy schedule to exercise by themselves or with friends if they so choose. The first event took place on March 24th and will continue to occur every Thursday from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. until the spring semester is over. This is the first time this event has happened on campus, and Lexi Ahrens, the event coordinator, stated, “Our EIMOC representative team came up with this idea together. We felt as though a weekly walk was a fun, easy way to encourage students to get active during the week.”
This weekly walk can help students who would like to start adding exercise into their routine but don’t know where to begin. Ahrens continued, “We are hoping that this event will encourage overall physical activity on campus. We want students to realize that physical activity doesn’t have to be intense. Physical activity can be walking, dancing, or even cleaning. Any movement is better than no movement!” One of the students that attended the walk said, “Even with the weather difficulties, it was still great to get outside and enjoy a walk.” With the weather starting to get warmer out, this is an opportunity for students to get some fresh air and enjoy what the outdoors on our campus have to offer. The student who attended continued, “It started snowing on the walk, and there were puddles everywhere, so the walking group tried to find paths around the puddles.”
Each week participants can meet in front of the Kress Center before going on an hour walk through the arboretum trails. If the weather doesn’t allow for an outdoor walk, Exercise is Medicine will persist by hosting the event inside through the tunnels. While the arboretum trails were too muddy for this week, the walk continued outside by going through campus instead. Ahrens said, “The turnout of this event did not match our expectations; however, we did understand that the weather would be a possible issue. We are hoping that better weather will increase participation in the upcoming weeks. In addition, we will continue to market our event by posting on our Instagram page. We also encourage Psychology faculty to promote our walk.” Members of Exercise is Medicine also think the time of the event played, but due to their tight schedules, they had to work the event around available times for them. Ahren’s closing remarks, “Exercise is Medicine-On Campus (EIMOC) facilitates activities throughout the school year to encourage students, faculty, and staff to work together to improve the health and well-being of the campus community. In addition, these events help us get our name out there to educate students on the additional services we provide (e.g., workshops, one-on-one exercise consulting).”