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Aubrey Adams, the CUIP Holistic Health Coordinator for Student Health
Outreach and Promotion for the 2005-06 school year, had a wonderful
experience working with SHOP and the CUIP program. In her final
year as an undergrad at UCSC, Aubrey expected to use this leadership
opportunity to help her refine her post-graduation goals, gain leadership
experience, and strengthen her ability to work independently and
proactively. Throughout her undergraduate career Aubrey was involved
in various extracurricular and co-curricular programs, often serving
in leadership positions; however, she felt that the independence
and responsibility offered through the CUIP program would help her
to improve these developing skills. At the year’s end, Aubrey
said that her time as a CUIP intern enabled her to meet these expectations,
and helped her to grow in a number of other, unexpected directions.
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In her role as SHOP’s Holistic Health Coordination, Aubrey
spent a lot of time and energy working to introduce UCSC students
to the benefits of living a balanced, holistically healthy lifestyle.
A staple aspect of the program’s agenda was the workshop which
the Holistic Health program took to residence halls across campus,
in an effort to offer students strategies for mitigating the negative
effects of stress. The workshop focused on teaching participants
various forms of meditation and relaxation with a special emphasis
on the mind-body connection, and activities that ranged from breath
meditation to acupressure to tai chi.
In addition to the workshop, Aubrey worked with her mentors, Jane
Bogart and Meg Kobe, and her fellow SHOP CUIP interns on preparing
and producing a number of successful SHOP events like the Safer
Sexcapades dance, the Santa Cruz AIDS Walk, and the annual Spring
Wellness Fair. These events gave Aubrey invaluable experience working
in a cooperative, team environment – something Aubrey did
not anticipate becoming as influential and educational as it did.
Toward the end of the year, Aubrey also got a chance to evaluate
the Holistic Health program as it had been designed at its inception
and significantly contribute to its reorganization. This particular
project challenged her to engage in constructive criticism and practical
assessment, and to suggest ways to redesign aspects of the program
that had previously been obstacles to its success.
After graduation, Aubrey intends to study and earn a PhD in American
History, which she hopes to teach at the university level. She is
confident that the facilitation, presentation, and cooperation skills
she learned will be a valuable asset to her future goals. Overall,
Aubrey said that her time as a CUIP intern, with all of its challenges
and successes, provided her with a uniquely beneficial and rewarding
opportunity to gain a knowledge of her own talents and desires while
working in a supportive setting with a host of wonderful mentors
and peers.
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