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Tracy Wieser, the CUIP Wellness Outreach Intern for students, staff
and faculty Health/Wellness Outreach and Promotion for the 2006-07
school year, had a wonderful experience working with OPERS and the
CUIP program. In her junior year as an undergraduate business major
at UCSC, Tracy anticipated using this leadership opportunity to
make strong connections with other figures of all ranks, gain leadership
experience and strengthen her ability to work independently and
proactively. Tracy was involved in various extracurricular and co-curricular
programs, often serving in leadership positions, as well as behind
the scene roles, that allowed her to improve upon skills such as
responsibility, public speaking, collaboration and creativity. She
felt the experience offered through CUIP would strengthen these
developing skills and help her to become a better, more well-rounded
person. At the year’s completion, Tracy felt 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.
In her role as OPERS wellness outreach intern, Tracy committed a
lot of time and energy working to introduce UCSC students, staff
and faculty to the benefits of living a well-balanced and healthy
lifestyle. A staple aspect of the program’s agenda was to
make people aware of the term wellness and better understand the
meaning behind it. To do this, Tracy, with the help of others, designed
fun, creative events, like the fall and spring Festivals and the
winter Adopt-A-Slug program. These events rewarded people for actively
participating in healthy activities and focused on forms of relaxation,
fun and easy exercises, good eating choices and meeting people interested
in the same ideas.
In addition to the events, Tracy worked with her mentor, Cindy Mori,
on preparing and producing a number of successful advertising ideas,
including flyers, banners, posters and recreation guide ads. These
events and creative designs gave Tracy invaluable experience working
in a cooperative, team environment – something Tracy did not
realize would become as influential and educational as it did. The
P.E. referendum was the most important, unanticipated event that
took place in Tracy’s work, and she felt that she was able
to use all her abilities and the traits she was gaining from her
CUIP class to bring about success. Presentations, advertisements
and dedication were a few of the things needed, and all of these
were discussed within the class. The referendum was not an easy
task. It took time and allowed Tracy to realize that all things
important are worth working hard for.
Towards the end of the year, Tracy also got a chance to evaluate
her own work and ability to interact with others and found a few
strengths within herself, as well as some weaknesses she chose to
learn from. This particular project challenged her to engage in
constructive criticism and practical assessment for herself, and
to consider ways to redesign aspects of the program that may have
caused obstacles for success.
Tracy intends to study another year at UCSC, where she hopes to
wrap up her active college career. She is confident that the facilitation,
presentation and cooperation skills she learned will be a valuable
asset to her future goals. Overall, Tracy felt 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. She found that
one of the key actions necessary to completing any objective is
communication. She feels confident in her work and happy with the
end result.
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