Wellness Ambassador of the Month
Lisa Harry, Katrina Wong, Liliana Moore, Adriana Aguena, School of Law Wellness Committee

 

Why did each of you become wellness ambassadors? 

Lisa: The opportunity to join the School of Law Wellness Committee presented itself when I transitioned over to King Hall in 2015. This was a great way to connect with my colleagues and promote work life balance and wellness. Being a wellness ambassador helps me to be committed to my own health and wellness goals. Plus, I truly enjoy planning fun, healthy events for my colleagues that provide opportunities to increase their energy level, enjoy more productive work days and ultimately feel better.  

Katrina: The opportunity to become a wellness ambassador was in a sense dropped in my lap. Lisa asked me when I came to the Law School if I wanted to join the Wellness Committee. I said “yes” and the rest is history. The main reason I wanted to become a wellness ambassador was that I wanted to work on my personal well-being and thought this was a great way to get more involved in my work community. 

Liliana: I wanted to be a part of a group at King Hall that would connect me with people from other departments, and that would give me the opportunity to work on fun projects that are different from my usual job duties. I think that experiencing wellness in many forms is essential in order to have a good quality of life, and I wanted to help myself and my colleagues work towards improved health and a better work-life balance! 

Adriana: I decided to become a wellness ambassador because I have a passion for fitness with a focus of helping people. To me, being fit means to be physically, emotionally and spiritually balanced. Time permitting, I would like to develop meaningful connections with all the participants that transcend the group fitness environment. I would love to be there to support and guide them through life-changing transformations. I am blessed to be part of a group of amazing women who genuinely care for each other and for others at King Hall! 

How long have you been a wellness ambassador? 

Lisa: 3 ½ years 

Katrina: Just under 2 years 

Liliana: 2 years 

Adriana: 6 months 

What are some of the challenges you have faced as wellness ambassadors? 

The three main challenges that we face as wellness ambassadors are: 1) finding the time to plan and run an event; 2) finding the time to participate in events; and 3) creating an event that everyone wants to attend.  

How did you come up with the idea to create a wellness committee? 

The Wellness Committee started before any of us worked at the School of Law. The committee started as just one-person who sent out e-mails and steadily grew into what is now a committee of six that puts on special events. Our vision for the Wellness Committee is that it will promote the health and wellbeing of our staff, especially in finding work-life balance. 

What does wellness mean to your committee? 

To us, wellness means finding balance, not just in the body, but in the mind as well. We want to promote health as a whole spectrum of wellness. We want our events to be fun, not judgmental. Wellness can be social, even just getting away from your desk and interacting with people. We want to help at least one person with everything we do. One of the most successful events we held was a healthy potluck, which allowed us to come together as a community and have lunch with our colleagues in different departments. Other great events we have hosted include rock painting and a scavenger hunt. We’ve found that hosting scavenger hunts is one of the best ways to get people to exercise without them realizing it! Currently, we are working on incorporating new ideas into our repertoire of wellness events. 

What has been rewarding or positive about your experience for your wellness committee thus far? 

We are proud that we have been able to hold such a wide variety of activities that promote wellness. We enjoy seeing new faces at events, and we love it when people let us know they are having fun! Also, when participation in our events increases it makes us feel like we are doing something right J. 

What is one piece of advice your committee would like to share with new wellness ambassadors? 

Don’t give up! Don’t be afraid to try new ideas. Focus on fun. Go to the Wellness Ambassador trainings. Collaborate with a group, be it your committee, fellow wellness ambassadors, or a friend. 

Staff and Faculty Health and Well-being aims to build an environment that makes the healthier choice the easier choice, while providing staff and faculty with the required support to make UC Davis the healthiest community. How do you feel your committee has contributed to our mission? 

We created a “wellness library” that includes yoga mats and workout equipment as well as coloring supplies and a picnic blanket. We hope that by providing this equipment, we are helping remove financial and access barriers to wellness. We want to make it easy for our staff to take advantage of classes that are already offered on campus. Now that we have provided staff with yoga mats in our building, they won’t need to buy their own or worry about forgetting one at home. We believe that listening to our staff is imperative in figuring out how to make the healthier choice the easier choice. For example, when we received complaints that donuts were the only snack option at our all-staff meetings, we decided to offer fruit as an easy and healthy alternative. We also aim to promote healthy behaviors by letting others know about wellness activities that campus already offers and to lead by example by attending these activities ourselves! 

What are each of your favorite things to do in your spare time? 

Lisa: I love going to the movies with friends and family, Zumba, hiking, going to PlantNite - making plant terrariums, PaintNite – painting new masterpieces (even though I have no painting expertise at all!), board games & video games with the kiddos and reading a good book. 

Katrina: Reading, going to the movies, hanging with friends and family, watching my favorite TV shows, bicycling, knitting, origami, and laughing as much as I can. 

Liliana: Playing the trumpet, hiking, reading, painting, CrossFit, eating, watching movies/TV, petting dogs, spending time with friends  

Adriana: I love taking and teaching Zumba and fitness classes, riding my bicycle outdoors, watching the sunset, learning new languages and traveling all over the world. 

Sue: Spending time with my son, reading, writing, watching movies and TV, walking with friends or by myself, enjoying nature. 

Kim: Spending time with family and friends, photography, running, genealogy, reading, painting, fly-fishing.