By Jordan Fox
For The Diamondback
Watching students, staff and faculty reach their fitness and nutrition goals is one of the reasons junior Eric Lai finds it rewarding to work as a physical trainer for University of Maryland Recreation and Wellness.
“My favorite part is getting closer and developing deeper relationships with your clients,” said Lai, a physiology and neurobiology major. “They’re coming to you in a vulnerable state, and [I love] that process of getting to know them, getting to train them and see them grow…seeing them feel better and also getting to know them personally.”
Lai is part of the RecWell physical training program – one of the contributing factors in this university being named one of the top 26 healthiest colleges in the county by Greatist last month. This school’s focus on mental, sexual and emotional health — as well as education about alcohol and drugs — also contributed to the distinction, said Kate Maloney, RecWell’s assistant director for communications and marketing.
This is the first time this university has applied for and been ranked on the list, Maloney said.
Although this university is ranked 19th on the Greatist list, Maloney said the list is organized by geography, not in an order of which school is better or worse.
Greatist is not the only ranking this university has been added to for exceptional health in recent months. It appeared 30th in the greatvaluecolleges.net’s 30 Great Schools Promoting Healthy Living on Campus and 18th in Men’s Fitness 25 Fittest Colleges in America.
And in the 10 years since the start of the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card, an annual study that ranks schools based on accessibility of sexual health resources, the university jumped from 61st to 14th.
The partnership between RecWell and the University Health Center, as well as opportunities for students through the Counseling Center and the Career Center, all contributed “to us being one of the healthiest colleges,” Maloney said.
“No one department contributes to being the healthiest college,” she said. “It really is the work of all of the departments here on campus, especially in the division of student affairs.”
Bre Rowh, assistant director of fitness, said the physical training program offers both exercise and nutrition assistance.
Open to students, faculty and staff, participants are matched with both a physical trainer and a nutrition coach who is a senior dietetic student supervised by a campus dietitian, said Rowh.
“It’s a nice holistic approach to taking care of both food and fitness, which is something that not a lot of other universities are doing at this point in time,” Rowh said. “[It’s] something that we’re very excited about because we’re able to help people who have both weight loss and weight gain goals, or just help them manage their lifestyle to be more well.”
The two-year-old program focuses on “taking on a team to help you and champion you to make that lifestyle change,” and is already showing growth from last year, Rowh said.
If students continue to prioritize their health and choose to be active, “they’re going to be more successful here at Maryland and will continue to bolster University of Maryland as one of the healthiest colleges,” Maloney said.
