I am pleased to introduce Alex Julian. This beautiful and intelligent young lady is twenty one years old and from Altoona, PA. Alex is a senior here at IUP and majors in nutrition and dietetics, which she was inspired to major in at a very young age.
“I was inspired by a pediatric dietician when I was nine years old. She made nutrition fun and easy to understand. I knew that I wanted to be like her, so that I could teach different types of people to enjoy nutrition and embody it into their everyday life.
Along with keeping busy with her school work and excellent grades, Alex is involved in many extracurricular activities.
Currently, Alex is the community chair for the Student Association of Nutrition and Dietetics and stays active in the Phi Eta Sigma Honors Society.
As you can see, Alex strives to do well and make a name for herself here at IUP and even with positive and negative experiences, Alex never forgets who inspires her hard work and dedication.
“My parents are my biggest inspiration, mainly because they have worked hard their entire lives to get where they are and even though they are getting older, they still work hard to make their goals achievable.”
When Alex is not working hard on campus, she is the office manager for housing (OHRLD) in Whytmire Hall and she is also a camp counselor and mentor for diabetic children.
When Alex was 9 years old, she was diagnosed with diabetes. As Alex has grown older, she has dedicated her experience and knowledge to young children and adolescents starting at age eight years old. Alex makes an impact on these children’s lives and helps them to understand that having diabetes does not define who you are.
Nearing graduation, Alex has begun to look back on her time at IUP; she has greatly enjoyed her four years here and has had many great experiences and memories. One of the best experiences Alex has had was being a summer orientation peer advisor.
“Over the summer, going into my junior year, I was a peer advisor, which means I would help new and transfer students. This was a very great experience for me, because I got to meet a diverse group of students and I got to educate them on how great IUP is and all of the resources available. I thought it was great, because it made me love IUP more and make me realize what IUP has to really offer for incoming students.”
With everything that Alex has accomplished thus far, she is still very motivated and does not plan to stop making goals for herself. This upcoming fall, Alex will be taking part in an internship and hopes to continue on to receive her master’s degree.