Wellness Ambassador of the Month
Rose Cabral, Office of Provost

How long have you worked at UC Davis? 

I have worked at UC Davis for 10.5 years in a few different departments. I started in Communications Resources and became a Wellness Ambassador in my current department, Office of Provost. 

What does wellness mean to you? 

To me wellness means taking the time to take care of yourself, whether it’s taking care of your mind, body, or soul. It’s taking time out to give your body the things that it needs.  

Why did you become a wellness ambassador? 

I became a Wellness Ambassador because I really like to try to promote healthy things. I like to promote it because it’s a reminder to myself that I need to do those things for myself as well. It’s also great to remind myself that it’s the little things you can do to improve how you feel.  

How long have you been a wellness ambassador? 

I have been a Wellness Ambassador since the program started. 

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

Seeing coworkers get up out of their desk to do something good for themselves and seeing the small changes in my coworkers and seeing them build more of an awareness of wellness. Another positive of this experience has been learning how much fun it can be to get to know coworkers in a different light around wellness.  

What are some of the challenges you face as a wellness ambassador? 

The biggest challenge I face as Wellness Ambassador is getting people to go somewhere else to do an activity. It’s really hard to get people to get up and step away from their desk when they are working on big projects. It’s challenging to switch the mind to focus on wellness and take time for yourself. 

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

Try to get people on your team with creative ideas for a backup system or as a sounding board to go through ideas. People are more inclined to get involved in something if more than one person is asking them to get involved. We’ve also been enlisting the help of student employees in sharing their ideas on promoting wellbeing in the department. I’ve also recently created a shared drive I’ve put everything we’ve done before to help get ideas from what’s worked in the past and expand on that.   

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 you have contributed to our mission? 

Providing different options. Sometimes it’s holding a lunch event and sometimes it’s a 15 minute event in the afternoon. Sometimes we post positive quotes and sayings in the break room. It’s really providing different options and ideas for people to practice wellness wherever they are and letting them take it where they want to go.  

What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time? 

My favorite thing to do in my spare time is connect with my community and neighbors and that’s good for my mental wellness. We hold neighborhood barbeques and I get to know them. Some of the neighbors are older and I get to listen to their stories while the younger ones run around.