Last Friday, the RAWC, in collaboration with the Health and Counselling Centre and the UTM Wellness Ambassadors, hosted their annual MoveU Motivator. The entirety of the event was focused on raising awareness for the importance of physical health and staying active daily.
Although the event lasted only from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., it was planned out and promoted since the beginning of September by the Wellness Ambassadors (WAs) and their health education coordinator, Ravinder Gabble. The WAs conducted several walkabouts for weeks, where they distributed flyers, educated UTM students about what the MoveU Motivator event is, and why they should attend. The planning and logistics was spearheaded by the team co-leads, Hannah Goodwin and Miranda Jurilj.
The event started off primarily with the guest speaker, Scott Prosser. Prosser’s main takeaway point was that, “Life is a game—play it”. According to Prosser, although university students have quite a busy schedule, it is nevertheless of vital importance that we appreciate and recognize the precious value of every moment of our lives. Prosser himself puts this philosophy into practice through his extensively active and adventurous lifestyle. Although currently a professor and researcher at UTM, Prosser’s active lifestyle has led him in recent years to participate in triathlons, and soon next year, a 14-kilometre swim along the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The speech was geared thoroughly to provide students the inspiration to consider focusing on their own health, rather than simply the next upcoming deadline for a midterm or assignment.
The MoveU event was segregated into three mini-classes where students had the opportunity to participate in any of the six activities being conducted: basketball, volleyball, pilates, Zumba, badminton, chair yoga, and paint darts. For the last activity, WAs filled up balloons with paint, which they planned to pin up against a wall, and have students shoot darts at. Each of these was managed and coordinated by several guides who regulated student engagement and learning in their respective activities.
After a cool-down at the end of the event with yoga, all participants received a free gym bag stuffed with goodies, such as Old Spice deodorant, Gillette Fusion Proshield razor, a frisbee, a card holder for smartphones, and much more. Students that participated in three activities were entered in a draw to win even more prizes and lucrative gift cards. Many of the students that attended the MoveU Motivator said that they had a blast and enjoyed the various fun activities they engaged in throughout the endorphin-induced afternoon.
The WAs had organized another event, known as Meet-A-Friend Café, just the day before at the student centre. Gabble mentioned that “the turnout was simply sensational.” This event, on the other hand, was geared towards raising awareness for mental health. They also had free caffeine beverages and board games for participants to bond over and hopefully form friendships.
Overall, the MoveU Motivator strived to re-introduce students to an active lifestyle to take care of their physical health. Furthermore, the event introduced students to the RAWC facilities, especially as most are not aware that their tuition already covers the cost of using this space for athletics and recreation. The WAs plan to coordinate two events for every month of the year, focusing on both mental and physical health, on campus.
