Posted on 26 July 2012.
For Emily Harris, director of campus recreation, ...
For Emily Harris, director of campus recreation, physical activity and good nutrition aren?t just her job. They?re a vital part of her lifestyle.
Harris, who has Type 1 diabetes, thyroiditis and a chronic kidney disease, said her health struggles contribute to her passion for helping college students achieve wellness.
?My own personal battles with my own health makes me passionate for teaching people how to be healthy,? she said. ?With the chronic diseases that I have ? which most people don?t even know that I have ? I understand how hard it is to balance your health. Some people it?s a choice; some people it?s not. And if you have the choice to prevent it, by all means, prevent that from happening.?
Harris is a 2007 Lipscomb graduate, who competed four years on the university tennis team, before accepting a job opening here in fall 2008.
When Harris began working at Lipscomb, there was only an intramurals program. Harris said during her interview for the position, she presented a comprehensive approach to campus recreation.
?I basically presented a whole model for Lipscomb that would be a comprehensive program that would meet more students? needs than just sport,? she explained. ?There would be this whole component of being active in body, mind and spirit. We still encompass that whole approach of spiritual, physical, mental, emotional training.?
In addition to her campus recreation duties, Harris runs the Lipscomb University Racquet Club with her husband Andrew, who coaches the university men?s and women?s tennis teams. Harris said the two first met while both were competing on Lipscomb?s tennis team during the undergraduate education here.
Harris said her constant goal with campus recreation is to provide an abundance of opportunities for students to be physically active.
?My biggest goal at Lipscomb is having as many opportunities for people to try as many types of things as they want to try to figure out what they like,? she said. ?We?re always developing new programming that might only impact 10 people on this campus, but again, it?s something where they can form relationships and enjoy something.?
In the fall, campus recreation will start ?a personal training crash course,? which will allow eight students each month to work with a personal trainer for free for one month.
?Our goal there is for them to be exposed, to see what personal training is like so later on down the road, say they?re 30 and they want to hire a personal trainer, they have eliminated this hokeyness of ?oh a personal trainer, I can?t hire them, it?s too hard,?? Harris explained.
Harris said the personal training crash course will be ?partner established? so that two students will be able to do the training sessions together. Students who are interested can fill out an application online.
Campus recreation also recently purchased an inflatable four-sided rock climbing wall, which stands 30 feet high and has real harnesses and karabiners, according to Harris. She said since they can?t afford to install a real rock wall, this is just one way to try to accomplish what students want.
?Our goal is, if students really want something, we want to provide that,? she said.
?It was almost too late at that point,? she said of people in that demographic. ?People already had hypertension, they already had Type 2 diabetes, they were already battling chronic obesity.?
During her undergraduate work, Harris spent time with elementary, middle and high school students. She said students at that age are too young to truly ?absorb that information, to actually implement it in their life.?
Harris said college students seem to be at the right age for understanding the need for physical activity and good nutrition and are capable of taking action to prevent health complications later in life. Harris said she tries to ?educate and equip? students to prevent chronic diseases and to find balance in life.
?I want people to enjoy life, and you can enjoy life when you?re healthy,? she said.
According to Harris, American culture doesn?t demonstrate how to maintain a balanced lifestyle.
?There?s nothing feeding our culture, specifically media, on how to be healthy, how to eat for optimum health, how to be physically active,? she said. ?The only things we see, as far as being physically active, is the extreme end on TV. You?ve got Biggest Loser and then all you add to that is your Olympic athletes being idolized on TV. So, there?s no balance on, how do you live in moderation?physical activity or nutrition. It?s either McDonald?s or you?re an extreme athlete; there?s no in between.?
Harris said one major lesson she?s learned is that everyone?s experiences have a unique influence on who they are.
?Every individual person has such a unique journey that really shaves the lens on how they perceive the world,? she said. ?For me, in my profession, to truly help someone, I have to understand everything in their childhood up to where they are now and then where they want to be on top of that.?
Harris said her staff often asks, ?What?s really going on here?? when working with students to determine what?s preventing them from achieving personal goals.
?We really have to understand where someone has come from to help them get to where they want to be,? she said. ?It might be that something is holding them back from their past that they don?t even realize is holding them back from reaching a specific goal.?
Harris encourages students to find appropriate balance because she believes it influences their ability to be successful in life.
?Really spend time finding balance in your life,? she said. ?Use the model that if you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then everything will be added to you. And ?everything? that I believe will be added to you would be physical health, emotional health, mental and spiritual. When those things are balanced, then you can be successful in your career, you can be successful as a boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife. God will put you in the right place for your life. When you have that balance in your life, anything is possible.?
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