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| Katherine Hewitt at the Easting Disorder Awareness Week earlier this month. Photo by Andrea Acevedo and Elizabeth McEnrue |
Katherine Hewitt, the Trinity University Coordinator of Wellness, makes strides every day to make campus a healthier and more beautiful place for students and faculty alike.
Hewitt says she has always had a passion for working in public health. Before coming to Trinity, she worked as a Health and Wellness Coordinator in upstate New York. She found her way to Trinity on a mission to spread her passion for wellness and enlighten students of the significance of being healthy.
Hewitt is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and uses her education to aid her in creating a greater community of wellness on campus. On a daily basis, Hewitt not only teaches but lives by what she calls the “four pillars of wellness”-- nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and no substance abuse. She considers them “a few key areas you can be successful in taking care of your wellness."
Although she has only been at Trinity for a year and half, her involvement on campus has already made a notable difference. The Body Project is one of her signature projects on campus. The Body Project is a national movement whose goal is “to help adolescent girls and young women resist sociocultural pressures to conform to the thin-ideal and reduce their pursuit of thinness.”
In her approach to the project, Hewitt lets students become peer leaders. “Peers can deliver the material as effectively if not more effectively than someone in a professional role,” she said.
The Body Project at Trinity University has 15-20 peer leaders per training session. Hewitt believes that the peer leaders distinguish her program from many others because students are “receiving health information from people like them.”
Through much experimentation, Hewitt and her colleagues found that sororities are a great target for this intervention. The Body Project hosts two to three workshops for students annually. In just this year alone, The Body Project has reached more than 50 female Trinity students.
Victoria Tolar, a junior history major, is one of these students. She got involved with The Body Project during her freshman year, starting as a participant in one of the workshops. Now, she is one of three program coordinators who plans, leads, and recruits for The Body Project workshops.
For Tolar, the experience with The Body Project has been life altering. “I remember how I felt going through it as a first-year and learning how everyone felt about their bodies and how we as women are portrayed in society. Immediately I knew that I wanted to be able to help girls understand that it is okay to be different,” she says.
Tolar also believes that the impact of The Body Project goes beyond the Trinity community. “I think it has a positive impact on society because we are telling young girls in a new environment that you don’t have to be perfect to be loved and the idea of ‘perfect’ is ever changing,” she says.
Wellness and health are always at the forefront of Hewitt’s mind. The Body Project is just one avenue for spreading her knowledge of health and wellness among the Trinity community. Earlier this month, Hewitt held the Eating Disorder Week, spreading awareness of eating disorders, how to combat them, and where to seek help.
She says her office is always open to anyone seeking help improving their wellness.
Victoria Tolar, a junior history major, is one of these students. She got involved with The Body Project during her freshman year, starting as a participant in one of the workshops. Now, she is one of three program coordinators who plans, leads, and recruits for The Body Project workshops.
For Tolar, the experience with The Body Project has been life altering. “I remember how I felt going through it as a first-year and learning how everyone felt about their bodies and how we as women are portrayed in society. Immediately I knew that I wanted to be able to help girls understand that it is okay to be different,” she says.
Tolar also believes that the impact of The Body Project goes beyond the Trinity community. “I think it has a positive impact on society because we are telling young girls in a new environment that you don’t have to be perfect to be loved and the idea of ‘perfect’ is ever changing,” she says.
Wellness and health are always at the forefront of Hewitt’s mind. The Body Project is just one avenue for spreading her knowledge of health and wellness among the Trinity community. Earlier this month, Hewitt held the Eating Disorder Week, spreading awareness of eating disorders, how to combat them, and where to seek help.
She says her office is always open to anyone seeking help improving their wellness.
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