My name is Alexa Paull and I am a first year undergraduate student in the Fisher College of Business. I am currently pursuing a Marketing major with a minor in Psychology. Additionally, I am a Dunn Sport and Wellness Scholar (DSWS), something that has been very influential throughout my first year here. DSWS has given me the opportunity to expand my interest and knowledge of wellness and engage nearly every two weeks with successful professionals in related fields.

In terms of campus involvement, I am an active member of the Undergraduate Business Women’s Association, meeting every Wednesday night. Through this club, I’ve met countless successful businesswomen and have had the chance to learn about their journeys and how they’ve ended up where they are today. Additionally, I am a member of the Ohio State Figure Skating team. Ice skating has been a passion of mine since elementary school, so I feel very lucky to be able to continue the sport here at school.

As far as career-related work goes, I was a marketing intern at a nonprofit organization, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. There, I gained experience in various core marketing functions, collaborated with marketing professionals, grew social media presence by 15%, and helped organize and manage fundraising events.

Speaking of fundraising events, I have always been very into volunteering. In high school, whether it was through the National Honor Society, Key Club or other organizations, I accumulated over 350 hours. Here at Ohio State, I’ve had the opportunity to volunteer at a couple different races, handing out water or gatorade. Additionally, I was a participant in the annual Buckeyethon event, which I plan to be a part of for the rest of my time at Ohio State.

Earlier this year, I attended the Wellness Workshop, an Honors & Scholars Event hosted by my Scholars program, Dunn Sport and Wellness (DSWS). Taking place in the RPAC, it was led by the student coordinators of DSWS. To start off the two-hour workshop, we took a wellness assessment. This activity asked several questions to help us determine which of the nine dimensions of wellness we were excelling in and which needed more work. Then, we split up into groups and rotated between three activities for the remainder of the time. While they were all different, they all contributed to our wellness in positive ways. For example, there was an activity about healthy eating and the importance of taking care of our bodies. At this station, we made a healthy trail mix with specific ingredients, all representing a specific dimension of wellness. The second rotation was succulent painting, with dealt with both environmental and creative wellness. Finally, there was a station focused on emotional and spiritual wellness where we spent time meditating and making vision boards of our goals.

Through these activities, I learned the importance of working on all nine dimensions of wellness, as each individual one is important for your overall wellbeing. From the wellness assessment, I was able to determine my weaknesses: financial and creative wellness. Since this workshop, I have worked to improve these. I’ve become more interested in my personal finances and I’ve been working on saving money and considering whether or not I really need something before buying it, especially since I chose to solely focus on my studies and not have a job my freshman year. As far as creative wellness goes, I have taken out some paints throughout this quarantine and made some art to send to my roommates during this difficult time. Overall, I am definitely more observant of what I am doing to improve my wellbeing and to fulfill the nine dimensions of wellness.