[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone. And hey, we are still in 2021. We are going strong. And I don't know, a lot of exciting things have happened this week. You know, we had the inauguration.
I don't know, I'm just, I'm in all the. Feels like just, it's. It's a new.
[00:00:31] Speaker A: I think that's a good point. You know, it's a new year. Last year was pretty, you know, it was tough, I think, for everybody. And so I think we're looking forward to 2021 being a better year.
We have the vaccine out, I think. I know personally a lot of people that are taking it and they're super excited about it. I have a lot of people like myself that are, like, super wary about taking something that new.
But I think it's just, it's hope for the future. And I think that, you know, I don't know, we've done, honestly, we've done so good. I mean, like, the university and even just all of us in the United States have done a really good job of trying to move forward and being optimistic. And I think I'm optimistic for 2021. I mean, we're what, three weeks in, like, January is going to be over before, you know, it will be in February. And I mean, I think a lot has gone on and I'm very hopeful and optimistic and I think that's the only way you can be.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Absolutely. I mean, I'm just thinking, hashtag science. The fact that they were able to, you know, put out the vaccine as, you know, quickly as they have been, while also doing some clinical trials, just so it's not, you know, crazy crazy. But I joked at the beginning with the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine. I was like, okay, is this going to be like choosing Coke versus Pepsi, which. I know people don't necessarily get to have a choice which one they get it just whatever is, you know, they have access to. But. But I don't know, it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. And I know that as groups start becoming qualified with how they're rolling in, out, you know, people are getting excited. But I know there's a lot of groups that, you know, have been cautious, which makes complete sense.
When I told my mom that I was getting the vaccine and my parents got the vaccine because they work in a clinical facility, she's like, well, make sure you ask them because, you know, you just had a Baby and you're breastfeeding. And so I think the reality is, you know, we don't know a lot with populations, but, you know, we have so many just wonderful scientists that are talented with like the greatest minds in the world. And it's just been cool to see them kind of rock this out and during a pandemic. So I don't know, it's, it's weird to even. It's. It sounds like something out of a movie. You know, when we talk about this global pandemic and you know, when you think about people wearing masks and I've been blown away with how compliant little kids have been with masks, maybe it's because they have fun designs.
[00:03:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh yeah. They're way cooler than our mask. I mean, like, I got my little like doctor's mask, like my blue, which these are in my opinion one of the best type of masks to wear, especially when I'm teaching class, because I don't feel like I'm suffocating. But yeah, they're way cooler, I think, than our designs. I see, like you said, the cute little kids at the store and you know, they're with their parents and then they have their little mask on. I'm like, that's so cute. It's like everybody's just joining together to try, you know, to try to do their part. But, you know, we've only had one show this semester. Right. Unless I'm kind of like blanking, which could have, could very well happen.
[00:03:39] Speaker B: You're correct. Totally correct.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: I just want to make sure it wasn't like Whitney just coming on talking and forgetting what she talked about. But, you know, with, with a new year and kind of this idea of moving forward and people creating New Year's resolutions. I know on my end of things and your end of things, it's always going to be fitness, nutrition related that people are looking at. But, you know, it's encouraging to also think that there's all these different aspects of wellness that we need consider. And I think that's a perfect kind of segue into, you know, a little preview of what our show will be today.
[00:04:13] Speaker B: Absolutely. No. And you know, and it's great because we have an awesome guest that is going to be talking about that and especially as it relates to the resources that we have on campus for making some of these out of the box New Year's resolutions. Which, speaking of New Year's resolutions, I know last show I had mentioned to you, part of my resolution was to not use as many exclamation points in emails and not be so fluffy. I'm also, I think I might add something physical activity related. I did a new form of physical activity today that I'm like, I kind of like this. And so I'm going to tease with that and we can talk about it after the break. But y', all, we've got to take a quick break. I'm going to leave us on a cliffhanger, but grab something to drink, grab a snack, do whatever you need to do. We will be back. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: WVUAFM Tuscaloosa.
Welcome back. You're listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7 a cap set. And it's 2021. Let's hope that maybe 2021 is less pandemic ish and more non pandemic.
Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for. But we were talking about New Year's resolutions and Chino, you left us with a little cliffhanger. How dare you.
Can you tell us what in the world, what kind of physical activity you've started doing as of this morning?
[00:05:47] Speaker B: Yeah. So, yeah, I'm so dramatic about it. Well, I, so I finally broke down and I bought an Apple watch. I bought an older one of the older series just because they're on sale all the time and super cheap. But it came with a few months of like Apple Fitness plus. And so it's basically the streaming workouts and they sync with your Apple watch so you see your stats on the screen and I get, I get giddy about like techy type stuff. Whitney, I know you and I have talked about that in the past as far as, like, some of the tracking stuff isn't necessarily your jam.
And so, and I think sometimes, and I am the same as well, I more so appreciate getting to see emails and texts on my wrist and other notifications. I don't always like to be super connected, but it's nice when if my phone is wherever and I can just kind of quickly glance at something and then I was like, hey, well, this is free. And that kind of ties in with some of the types of New Year's resolutions we'll be talking about today. I was like, let me see what this is all about. So before I renew my gym membership or the other streaming service I was doing for exercise, if Apple is giving this to me for free, let me try this out and see how it goes. But I did a hiit workout this morning, and I really liked it. So, yeah, you know, the good thing
[00:07:07] Speaker A: about hiit workouts and just a shameless plug, we do have HIIT classes at the rec center in only 30 minutes. And the good thing about hiit workout is he doesn't take a lot of your time, and you're like, in and out and you're done. And so whether it's here at the rec center that you're gonna do a class or on your Apple watch or whatever, hiit is such a good way to challenge the cardiovascular system and to fit it into your busy schedule. Because I feel like a lot of times with fitness, New Year's resolutions, and fitness goals, people will go all into this mindset of I gotta do cardio for like, an hour or I have to do all this stuff. And I'm like, who in their right mind would ever really want to do cardio for an. And who could really maintain their heart rate at like, a high rate for an hour, except for maybe, like, an advanced athlete? And so for HIIT classes, it's great because you have a nice little ratio of working as hard as you can, that burst of energy, and then you get to rest, and then you get to come at it again. And I personally love it. So I think it's great.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: Yeah, no, the time efficiency part, Totally love that. But I will get off of that topic now. And I know we have a fantastic guest, and so without further delay, I'm going go ahead and introduce her. I have the honor of her being one of my coworkers. It's Mrs. Tiffany Lawson, and she is an assistant director in the department of health promotion and wellness. So, Tiffany, thank you for coming and joining us again because we've had you in the past.
[00:08:35] Speaker C: Hey, Sheena. Hey, Whitney. Yes. Thank you for having me again. So I'm guessing I didn't do as terrible as I thought I did the first time around for you guys to introduce me back again. So I'm excited about that.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: Oh, no, you're great.
[00:08:49] Speaker C: Super excited to be here with you guys today.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: Well, we're excited to have you. And, yeah, like, Sheena said, you were awesome. And so we especially love to partner with our campus partners. That's a lot of partnering to do. But we love to have you guys on because we believe in, you know, using our resources and the people around us to get out that awesome information that we have on campus. And, you know, when you think of wellness, and this is something that I think about a lot, money, I think everybody kind of thinks about money. Like we want more money and we never feel like we have enough money or however way we're managing our money. And I think, you know, one of the topics we are talking about is kind of financial wellness. So before we jump into that and kind of get your thoughts and some things that you guys do, you know, tell us or actually remind our listeners a little bit about your professional and academic background. And then also, you know, what you do in your department, of course.
[00:09:42] Speaker C: Well, I'm a health educator by trade or training, I guess training.
And so I have a master's degree in health promotion and wellness. I attended the University of Mississippi, so go sec.
And I also have a couple certifications in coaching, which really plays a lot into my current role here at the university.
And so just to give you a little bit about my background, I've been in higher education. I am approaching my fourth year in higher education and two of those years will be at the University of Alabama, so row Tide.
And then before I came here, I did some time in corporate health and wellness.
And so I kind of have that perspective as well. And so I think that kind of rounds out my experience in the health and wellness field, in a sense.
And so that's a little bit about my background, a little bit just a brief overview, and now a little bit about what I do at the university. So I'm currently my focus area is financial wellness, financial literacy.
And so most of the work that I do centers around creating financial literacy programs and presentations for students because my ultimate goal is to make sure that all UA students have a comprehensive financial literacy foundation when they leave ua so that when they go out into their careers, they can fall back on that. Because financial literacy is something that you will need throughout your life because you'll always be dealing with money and managing your finances.
And so the main bulk of my work here at the university is dealing with financial literacy, financial wellness. I also do a couple other things.
I co advise Project Health, which is a peer education group here at the university.
I coordinate all of the health fairs and wellness week for students here at the university. And lastly, one of my newest initiatives or programs that I'm working on is that I supervise and oversee the peer financial coaching program, which is an awesome program that I'm going to enjoy telling you guys about a little bit later.
But to answer your question, Whitney, the bulk of my work is around financial literacy and making sure that our students are equipped with those skills.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: Well, yeah, all I will say from all of that is that you are a super Busy person, because that is a ton. And, you know, when you do have this charge of wanting all UA students to have this great foundation when it comes to financial literacy, I know in, you know, conversations with my patients, even when we're talking about meal planning and budgeting and buying food on a budget, you know, I can notice some nuances in terms of lack of education about or just lack of skills when it comes to money management at times. And so, you know, I kind of want to open it up for us right now.
Why do you guys think, people, do you think that financial based New Year's resolutions are kind of on the trend?
You know what I mean?
[00:12:49] Speaker A: I think there could be a whole plethora of ways to make New Year's resolutions. Like, I feel like now we're not just locked into, you know, fitness and wellness. We've kind of started to see over the years, at least through commercials and, you know, media stuff like that. Like, people coming up with different things to focus on because of that wellness will. And, you know, our wellness will at Alabama is a little bit different. I think there's different variations of it.
And we do focus on the financial part. And I think, at least from what I've seen, you know, it's so important for students to learn that now because, I mean, when I was a student, I didn't really know how to manage money. Like, I did okay, I think. I mean, I was able to eat and, like, pay for certain bills and stuff, but, like, when it came to understanding things about just the economy or, you know, stuff like that, I mean, I wasn't really sure about it or just little, little tactics and ways that I could manage my money or maybe shop at this store for groceries rather than, you know, this store, you know, because it could be more expensive or kind of being more aware. I mean, I don't think I really thought about that as much as I do now.
But I'm curious, Tiffany, of some, you know, things that you've thought about or some things that the students have brought to your attention or I don't know if y' all have any little tips. Tips and tricks.
[00:14:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I think, like you were saying, Whitney, like, it with New Year's resolutions, you can kind of take those in, like, a variety of directions.
And I think that especially since we've had all the challenges that we had last year with COVID that financial resolutions may be more prominent this year than in past years. So I think that they kind of would be trending up this year, Sheena, just because of Those challenges that we faced last year.
[00:14:43] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, hello, like, people trying to figure out, like, okay, what do I want to do with my stimulus check? Like, for those that do have the luxury of being flexible with where they allocate that money, I know that, you know, there's many of us that are receiving those funds, and we already have a specific, you know, know, set of bills that we want to pay. But, you know, for those that are getting it and have that luxury, there's some flexibility there. And so, you know, I think we've all seen the memes on social media when people joke about, like, the $600 stimulus check and then the other ones we've had and, you know, what people are doing with it and all the things. But it's time for another break. And, Tiffany, we're so lucky that you're going to be with us the entire show, but we've got to take a break, you guys. We're going to finish our conversation with Tiffany or actually continue it. You are listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:15:40] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
Hello, friends. You're listening to Fit to be tied on 90.7, the capstone. This lovely Sunday afternoon, and we are getting close to finishing out the month of January, and it's kind of crazy. So we thought, you know, what better way to spend a Sunday than talking about money? And it all brings me to the TV show Parks and Rec with what's it Mona Lisa Saperstein says, lenny, please.
Do y' all watch Parks and Rec? Do y' all talk about? And she's like, holding her hands out to her dad, like, lenny, please. And so every time I think about money, that's like, literally and literally in my email for budgeting, my folder says, money, please, like Mona Lisa Saperstein.
Anyway, those of you that like Parks and Rec, maybe you'll notice that reference. But we're with Tiffany today, and she's speaking to us about managing your money and kind of the programs that we have here at the university, you know, for students so that you guys can create goals and you can understand things like looking at your credit score and budgeting and saving money. When you think about those things, you kind of feel like it's like, not something you have to be involved in and interested in when you are in college, but it really starts now. So, Tiffany, I'm kind of curious at what you think are some of the most practical financial goals and habits that a college student should Consider.
Yeah.
[00:17:07] Speaker C: So the first thing that comes to mind for me that I think is super important for a college student is to be on top of budgeting.
I think that this is probably the most sensible starting point when it comes to looking at your finances, especially if you're planning on doing these resolutions around finances or anything like that. Just dealing with your finances in general. You want to have a plan for your money, and that's exactly what a budget is.
So, for example, if you are focusing on your fitness, then you're going to have a workout plan that you're going to kind of follow.
When I think about nutrition and if you're working with Sheena and you're working on maybe meal plans, and that's kind of like a plan for you for your new. For your nutrition focused area.
And so that's what a budget is. It's a plan that kind of tells you exactly where your money is going. And so I think as a college student, if you can kind of figure out and hamper down and create your budget and then kind of follow that budget and track it from month to month, then once you kind of, I guess once you kind of get a handle on that, then you can kind of look at other areas. Because that budget is the starting point. Because once you track it, you can kind of see, hey, I spend X amount of money here, but, you know, I don't necessarily need to put all this money here. Maybe I can move this around and put this into a savings account or emergency fund and then you can start working on your savings at the same time and then just kind of keeping track of your finances that way just to get started off. And then from there, like I mentioned, starting that savings or the emergency fund. And then next I would probably say paying attention to their credit score or being aware of their credit score, which is really cool because right now at this point, you can get your free credit report from each of the bureaus weekly.
And normally that's not the case, but due to Covid, the three credit reporting bureaus are now offering weekly free credit reports that you can access to kind of see what exactly is on that report.
That is amazing.
[00:19:19] Speaker B: This is great.
[00:19:20] Speaker C: And you can access that free
[email protected] and normally you only have one free credit report. Credit report a year.
And so for them to make this something that you can pull up weekly is phenomenal.
And so I definitely encourage students to take advantage of that. I think they are free until April. And so you have a couple more months where you can utilize that service. But it's important to know what's on your credit report so that if there's something on there that you are not aware of or that is fraudulent, you can kind of take some action and try to figure out, okay, well, if this isn't something that I, this isn't a lot of credit that I tried to open or anything. And you can take those steps to kind of resolve that issue and dispute it and go about it so that you can make sure that no one is misusing or abusing your credit. And so those are probably the three things that I would say, Whitney. I would say that making sure that you're on top of your budgeting, so creating a budget.
And then secondly, once you kind of get into like that habit of budgeting and tracking your budget, then maybe looking at starting a savings or an emergency fund. And then lastly, making sure that you're paying attention to your credit report and what's on there. And so taking checking your credit report frequently through that annual credit report website.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: I think that's really good advice. And I think, you know, I was just thinking, thinking about myself. I don't think I ever really checked my credit until I had a full time professional job. And I was like making quote unquote, the real money and had, you know, benefits and all that type of stuff. And I kind of wish I had known that when I was younger because, I mean, you get into. Sheena, I think you have a story about like credit card, like being the ua.
[00:21:05] Speaker B: You want to share that?
[00:21:06] Speaker A: I know it's been a while since we brought that up, but like, sometimes, you know, you can kind of get into a little bit of trouble being a college student. Because I'm not saying you're gullible, but I know I kind of was. And so you would just be like, oh, let me sign up for this, let me do this, you know?
[00:21:21] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, no, absolutely. And thankfully, you know, some things have changed where credit card companies can't really do this anymore. But I remember, you know, going to like a gymnastics meet at Coleman Coliseum or it was somewhere and like, I think MasterCard or one of the companies, they were giving out these really awesome looking Alabama beach towels. And it's like, hey, sign up for a card. And I was like, okay.
Was so thin and flimsy. Like, I don't know. Anyways, and so I told my dad I signed up for a credit card and he's like, well, he's like, how about you use that to, you know, pay for Gas and he's like, you can just use it that way. And I was like, okay, awesome. Well, I remember at 23 years old, it was on my 23rd birthday my dad called me yelling at me because he, the understanding that he had was that I was going to be checking this account and like either telling him or paying it myself. So long story short, I had paid gas with it and just you know, had forgotten about it. And so the bill was only like I don't know, $44 and I was over 60 days and or maybe 90 days and it had like hit a ding on my credit. And I remember on my 30th birthday knowing that it was finally going to disappear at that seven year mark or whatever and I was like this stupid mistake when I was 23 years old.
So if you know that you have an account, check it often for sure or just don't sign up for one in general. But I will also say Tiffany, I love how you emphasize the budget first. I think it was Dave Ramsey that I heard say one time if you don't tell your money where it's going, you're not going to know where it went.
And that's so true.
So I think like basically giving a name or direction to every single dollar, every single scent versus just kind of like letting stuff like sit without designating like what you want to do with it. So that's always kind of resonated with me.
[00:23:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I think you know, that's perfect and perfectly said and I know a lot of people like to use Dave Ramsey and I need to like dive into that a little bit more just because I haven't. But you know, it's when you start working and you're making more money, you know, where it's a salary and it's more than like you've seen coming in if you're doing you know like a college job or you know like working at the rec center or something for like, like swipe at action cards as a student job or something on campus, it changes the game and I think sometimes that can be kind of overwhelming if you've never seen those types of numbers. And also knowing like when you get your paycheck and your pay stuff like there's going be to be other things taken out. And I think also as an, as a student or a new professional, sometimes we don't see the taxes taken out, we don't see the Medicare, all those different things and you kind of think like you're getting one thing and then when you look at it what you're actually taking home, it's a little different. You're like, now wait a minute. I don't understand this because I remember that was how it was for me. I just, my first job, it was like a very first full time job, was a very big learning experience and how to budget that way. So you, you want to understand your paycheck and, you know, it just comes with learning. And I think that everybody gets a chance to do that. But I do kind of want to talk about pure financial. The pure financial coaching program.
And, and I know we got a little bit of time before we come out on a break, but what is that, Tiffany? What do you guys do with that program?
[00:24:44] Speaker C: Yeah, Whitney, I'm glad you asked. So this is my new baby.
Super excited about it. We haven't had it around that long.
It actually is a program. It's a partnership between Alabama Credit Union and the business school and the department of health promotion and wellness. And basically we have trained UA students to provide financial coaching to their peers.
[00:25:05] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:25:07] Speaker C: I know.
And so we're offering sessions.
We'll be opening up our booking link later in this semester. But it's a phenomenal service to our students.
[00:25:18] Speaker A: That's awesome. And it gives us students a chance to help other students out, which is that whole circle of life thing I call where like, you've had help so now you're going to help somebody else.
[00:25:29] Speaker C: That's awesome.
[00:25:30] Speaker A: I think I want to talk more about that after the break.
So we are going to take a quick break. You're listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:25:51] Speaker B: Welcome back. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone. And if you were just now joining us this afternoon, we've been having an awesome conversation as it relates to financial health and the resources that we have on campus and even financial New Year's resolutions. And Tiffany, before the break, you were telling us a little bit about the peer financial coaching program that has been your baby that you have been working on in collaboration with some other departments on campus. And I know you mentioned some students getting trained to be these peer coaches. Tell us what that training looks like for the students and then what students can expect if they were to sign up for one of these sessions.
[00:26:34] Speaker C: For sure. All right, Sheena, so I mentioned that Alabama Credit Union is one of our partners, so they sponsor.
Well, each semester we try to do about 10 students a semester. But our first group of students, we had about nine students who were sponsored by Alabama Credit Union. And so essentially, these students, they do a training for a certification.
And basically this certification is the exact same certification that Alabama Credit Union financial counselors undergo to provide counseling and coaching services to Alabama Credit Union members.
And so our students undergo the same training. And once they complete it, it's about 33 modules or chapters that the students have to go through, and they learn and they study, and then they have this exam at the end that they have to pass in order to become a certified financial counselor. And so our students undergo this, and then in combination with that, they also undergo coaching training where we talk about different techniques, about how to elicit motivation from the person that they're working with, how they can build rapport with them, how they can work with them to create smart goals about their finances.
They also undergo this type of training while they're completing their certification. So they kind of have like this well rounded training model so that when they're meeting with their fellow students one on one, they actually have like, the knowledge and the experience when it comes to, like, that financial component, but they also have like the coaching component to kind of help lead and guide their fellow students to kind of make those financial goals and kind of how to stick to them, I guess, in a sense, so they have this training. Sorry, Whitney.
[00:28:25] Speaker A: No, you're fine. I was just gonna say I love how you talk so much about coaching. Like, we've heard that so much throughout this segment that I think, you know, just. I'm thinking myself in the fitness world. Coaching is such a huge thing, and you can have all the knowledge in the world, kind of like what you're teaching your students. But if you don't have that coaching element, it's hard to keep people motivated and on track. So I love that I've just heard you say coaching multiple times, and I'm thinking, no, that's the right way. Like coaching people to make these right choices, right?
[00:28:54] Speaker C: And kind of helping the students to kind of find their. Their internal motivations. Because the peer coaches, like, they have the financial knowledge, but they're kind of also there as a sounding board, Whitney. Kind of like how coaching is when it comes to fitness.
Like, the individual that's undergoing the coaching, they kind of know what they want and what motivates them. And the peer coaches there just kind of help to kind of navigate. Help them navigate the waters and kind of figure things out.
And so that's one of the important components That I thought was necessary in order for our coaching program to be successful because we want our peer coaches to be able to relate to their peers.
And we know that that peer to peer information exchange is very valuable in higher education and in the college setting.
And so that's one of the things that we focus on with this training.
So we have that they have there. They get the financial knowledge and they get the coaching training, training.
And then.
So that takes them an entire semester and then the following semester they're able to provide one on one coaching sessions to their fellow peers.
And so these coaching sessions are free to UA students.
They're 30 minutes in length and they're confident or. Yeah, they're confidential. And so you can meet with the peer coach. You can. There's a. We have a. Let me backtrack. We have a financial literacy website, a UA financial literacy website that's housed on the health promotion and wellness page. And you can go there, it's lots of information about financial literacy. And then you can book a session with a peer coach.
And basically you'll come and you'll meet with your peer coach and they'll kind of get a sense of like what you wanted to meet about. Whether it's around you want to create a budget or you want to talk about how to decrease your debt but. Or repay your student loans and then they'll kind of get a feel for what you're wanting to do and then they kind of work with you to kind of set smart goals around those things.
Now you can just meet with a peer coach one time if that's what you need to kind of help you. Let's say you need to just set up a budget, you can do that or you can meet with them multiple times and it's all free.
And so we encourage students to take advantage of this free service because it's just like I said, it's just adding on to that comprehensive financial literacy foundation that we're wanting to instill in our students.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: I think the projects and the programs that you guys have, and you know, it's. That's what we do in student life is we empower students to help other students. Because it's the same way in university recreation we have student instructors are going to mentor other students. And if I was a student and I could sit down with someone else that's just like me and then give me advice on a one on one level rather than having someone from a bank that's like 10 years or 20 years older than me, I would probably Take that option over anything. So I think that's a great program.
[00:31:50] Speaker B: That's awesome.
And the fact that, like you said, peer to peer, we're definitely acknowledging the benefit with that. And that's kind of a good segue into the other part of your job.
Tiffany, as far as being a co advisor to Project Health. And you know, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Project Health, Tiffany, tell us a little bit about that student organization on campus. For sure.
[00:32:14] Speaker C: So Project Health is my other baby. They're my older baby.
So Project Health is a peer education group here at the University of Alabama. And basically these are students who are knowledgeable and are trained on different aspects of health and wellness topics that are pertinent to college students. And then they go and they create materials and information and disseminate that information to their peers.
And so I mentioned earlier that that peer to peer information flow is valuable. And so this is a way for us to get that important health information to the UA community through fellow UA students.
And so that's basically what Project Health is. We view it as the go to source of health and wellness information for UA students.
What was your other question? I'm sorry?
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Oh, no, no, no. You hit that question right on the head. But, you know, I love the point that you made that you are doing health and wellness topics that are specific to the college population. Because I think, you know, when we think about UA as a whole, of course we have our students, but we have faculty and. And staff on campus. And strategically, we separate our initiatives for those populations when it comes to health and wellness. Because I think some of the health and wellness issues that students are going through as students versus a faculty or professional staff member can be completely different.
Priorities are a little bit different because these people are in different chapters of their lives. And so the fact that you guys are creating materials that are looking at the target audience, that would be visually pleasing and interesting. And it's social media, you know, friendly. I love that about the organization for sure.
[00:34:00] Speaker A: So correct me if I'm wrong, because sometimes, you know, I live in Whitney world and forget things. But so Project Health, is that the Health Hut or is it separate?
[00:34:12] Speaker C: So Project Health includes the Health Hut.
[00:34:14] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:34:14] Speaker C: There are actually. We actually have five branches of Project Health right now.
So Whitney, you mentioned the Health Hut. So that's probably our most recognizable branch in that they actually have a physical structure and they rotate to different locations around campus. And so, you know, they're visible and people can see them.
And so they do their interactions with the in around. Within the health hut, we also have our health and ambassadors who do tabling on Wednesdays. Healthy Hump Day tabling. And they also do all of our programs that are in the residence halls.
Similar to our health ambassadors, we have Gamma, which they also do tabling throughout the week. And they also do presentations in our sorority and fraternity houses. So they are specific to our Greek population and provide programming for them.
We also have health advocates. So these are our students that you may see walking around in pairs or in groups of three. And they do informal interactions. And so they go up to students and they may talk to them about the health topic of the week. And then lastly, we have our mental health branch, which is our newest branch in partnership with the counseling center. And basically, they focus on mental health topics.
So, yeah, so we have five branches, about 160, 165 students.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: Wow. Wow. That's awesome.
I mean, I feel kind of bad. I didn't realize that y' all had so many different entities within that. That's awesome. I think that's my. Well, I'm very familiar with the health hut because y' all are always in the front lobby at the rec center. And so I'm very familiar with that. But I really like the idea of kind of the informal interactions with a couple of students, like walking around campus just to strike up a conversation of, did you know about this health topic? I think that's awesome. So that's great info, I think.
[00:36:00] Speaker B: You know, Tiffany, with all the different branches that you've mentioned and how the interaction is happening, I can't help but wonder that we've probably had to do some adjustments when it comes to Covid times. If you are willing to stick with us for our last segment, we'd love to kind of chat about that and then also give a plug for how students can get involved with Project Health if it's something that tickles their fancy. But, you guys, we gotta take a break.
You will catch us on the flip side. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:36:35] Speaker A: Wvuafm, tuscaloosa.
You're listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7 to Capstone and an awesome show, as always, put it down in the books.
[00:36:49] Speaker B: That's right. That's right.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: I'm so cocky when it comes to this radio show. How many fans we got out there? Like, two. I'm just kidding. The whole campus is listening to us. You know that
[00:37:02] Speaker B: it's like awkward silence
[00:37:03] Speaker A: Awkward silence because we're sitting here on Zoom and we can never know when ever to talk. So thank you, Tuscaloosa, for sticking with us.
[00:37:12] Speaker B: Absolutely. Oh, my goodness. Okay, so before. Before the break.
Tiffany, you are so great about telling us about all the different branches of Project Health and the different interactions during these Covid times. What have y' all had to do as far as adjustment and reaching the students through the different programming methods that y' all normally do and now having to change those?
[00:37:36] Speaker C: Yeah, so, yes, you know, we've had to make some adjustments because that's okay, because we're adaptable. But basically, normally during the semester, we have multiple locations that we rotate in between.
And we have like an indoor location in case the weather doesn't cooperate, which sometimes it doesn't. But because of COVID we are only doing outdoor locations. So if the weather is not conducive, then we have to cancel our programming for that day, which makes us very sad. But we want all of our students to be safe as well as our campus community.
We've also transitioned our in person presentations that we do in the residence halls and for attorney and sorority houses to Zoom as opposed to being in person.
And of course, that has its own challenges because being on Zoom is definitely different than giving a presentation in person.
So that's one of the other things that we've had to adjust.
We've also had to transition from our in person meetings because we can't find a space, our in person weekly meeting meetings with the entire organization because we can't find a space that allows us to social distance with 160 plus students.
And so all of our meetings are on Zoom. And that can be challenging as well because it's kind of. It's difficult to manage a meeting with 165 people in Little boxes on your screen.
And so we've been trying to make sure that we try to keep our students engaged. And so we've been trying to be creative and how we interact with our students and keep them engaged because we know that it's been a different semester and a different time.
[00:39:14] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:39:15] Speaker A: I think it's. I mean, we've all adapted and we know this. We are great at using Zoom now, you know, but at least from what I see, the biggest challenge of Zoom is I zone out, like, really easily. Like, it's not even. I'm just gonna confess that to the world right now. I'm sure there's other people out there that feel the same way. Like, even in our student life meetings, I'M like, sitting there and I'm, like, listening, and then I'm just, like, glazed over. And then it's really hard. And I feel like, you know, the students are doing a really good job of managing it. I think they're doing a better job than, like, me just because it's hard to stay focused sometimes, especially in a meeting that size. But I guess within time, everybody gets used to it. Maybe they're doing way better than me. Maybe it's just me and I'm ADD and I haven't been, like, diagnosed yet or something. But, you know, it's definitely been challenging. But at the same time, I'm really grateful for all these means that we have to be able to communicate and record our radio show because we wouldn't be able to record our radio show in the space that we have over in Student media building because it's too small and the amount of people in the room. Room. So we've been able to keep this going on because of Zoom and, you know, other platforms that we may use. So it's been okay. I think we can manage.
[00:40:33] Speaker B: Yes, Tiffany, with what you've shared about Project Health, if we have listeners that are interested in getting plugged in, what is the best way for them to learn more information about how they can join and times of the year that you guys are taking applications for? Sure.
[00:40:50] Speaker C: So our social media accounts are probably the best way to get plugged in and kind of know what we're doing, where we are, what health topic we're talking about.
And since we have so many, I'll just give you, like, the main Project Health Instagram account, which is UAProject Health, or at UAProject Health.
And then from there, like, they repost all of our other social media accounts for all the different branches.
And like I said, it'll keep you knowledgeable on what's going on, where we are, et cetera. And then we recruit for new Project Health interns twice out of the year, once in the spring semester and once during the fall semester. But our application is available all year round. So if you kind of miss those recruitment windows and you still want to be a part of Project Health, you can still complete the application and then we'll look at it when we open up those cycles for when we're actually activating delivered food.
[00:41:43] Speaker B: Okay, that's awesome. Well, Tiffany, thank you so much for letting us use the past hour to, you know, to pick your brain about financial wellness. Also share with us about Project Health. But, you guys, it's been another awesome Sunday afternoon. So you guys enjoy the rest of the week. You know, next time we see you or you guys listen to us, it's going to be February, I think, everywhere.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:42:08] Speaker B: I'm, It's.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: I'm.
[00:42:09] Speaker C: I'm.
[00:42:09] Speaker B: I'm losing track of the year already. And. And it's not even through the first month, but you guys enjoy the afternoon. You have been listening to Fit to be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone.
