When Morgan Stohlman began teaching her 6:30 a.m. spin class at Saurwein Health & Wellness Center this fall, the only “taker” who joined her for the first month was her roommate. Now, the class has expanded to six.
That may not seem like a lot, but to Morgan, whose friends know her as Mo, it’s progress. As the Wellness and Special Programs graduate assistant for Saurwein, Mo says she has “the coolest job” but she also knows that changing a culture around wellness can be painstakingly slow.
“We want people to decide to walk into wellness, not be forced into it,” Mo says. “So we’re trying to offer a little bit of everything so everyone can find their own personal version of wellness.”
A huge part of her role is to develop and execute creative programs that promote wellness and healthy lifestyles across all spectrums of the Heidelberg community.
She launched one such program this summer with community garden plots. “We wanted to pilot it to see if we could grow anything,” she says. So she called on wrestling coach Tony Patrizi, who helped build four 4-foot BY 4-foot raised beds, which were located in the open field near the bottom of the Rebecca Street bridge, near Rock Creek. There were a handful of participants and their success was mixed. Nonetheless, “We were able to work the kinks out this first year, and we’re putting feelers out for interest for next year.”
The community garden plots were a great place to start, and Mo welcomes any department or individual who’s interested in participating. And she has more ideas to create awareness around wellness. She’s compiling a library on the second floor of Saurwein, just outside of the Multipurpose Room. The library will have inspirational books, articles, meditations, healthy recipes and other online resources available for borrowing.
“With the library, we’re trying to grow the community aspect. It’s cool for people to share,” she says. As with the garden, she welcomes contributions – either hard copies or links to online information.
In her second year as a GA, Mo has learned that successful wellness programs take planning and intentionality. She’s taking that approach as she works to raise awareness and gain buy-in for campus wellness initiatives. When successes occur, it’s good to celebrate them, which is why Mo’s next project will be to spread the good news through a Personal Achievement Highlights social media campaign coming soon.
“We’re hearing successes and seeing them, and we don’t want people to stop,” she says.
One way to track successes – and to plan wellness activities – is through Saurwein’s app. Through the app, you can register for classes, keep track of class schedules, see occupancy statistics and receive updates and notifications, among other features. It’s simple and accessible to all by searching for Saurwein in the app store and installing from there.
In addition to promoting a healthier community, Mo wants everyone – students, faculty and staff – to know that Heidelberg cares about their well being. “It’s important for you as a person and as an employee of the university,” she says.
Spin class, anyone?