A few weeks ago I stumbled onto an amazing chapter that I believe every college campus should have. Let me tell you about CHAARGE( Changing health, attitudes, and action to re-create girls). As stated in their website, “CHAARGE aims to ignite a passion for movement in college woman. Too many college women rely solely on the elliptical for exercise. Our mission is to liberate girls from the elliptical plus show them that fitness can and should be fun plus that working out is better with friends!” Their mission was to empower a wellness community across the universities in America. This mission really just tugged at my heart. I cannot get this idea and organization out of my head. I realize that this is actually something missing from the campus that I go to and I would love to become an ambassador to start this chapter on campus for many reasons.
The first reason why I would love to start this chapter on my own campus is because of the strong focus of establishing a wellness community. When many people think of exercise or being healthy they think of working out or going on a diet. However most people often forget that wellness is also mental. Wellness does not necessarily have to always be physically working out or physically watching what you eat. I also strongly believe that your mental health is just as important, if not even more important, then your physical health. Through CHAARGE I will be able to create an atmosphere focusing on mental wellness within my college campus.
The second reason why I would love to start this chapter on my campus is the physical aspect of it. I really love the idea of growing and being able to work out with other girls. In fact I know many friends that want to work out that are just so scared to do it by themselves. I personally don’t know how every single workout equipment works and I know that is one thing that I’m slightly embarrassed about whenever I go to the gym. I also believe when working out with a group of other females it makes exercising fun, more powerful, and it makes it more impacting. When I am working out with friends or family members of mine, rather than just myself, I feel more accomplished and I feel happier. I believe establishing this chapter on my campus will enable other girls to feel the same way while making new friendships with other fellow CHAARGE members.
Last but not least I would love to establish this chapter on my campus just because I believe this is exactly what is missing from WU. It is a way to establish new connections, to make long lasting friendships, and to also educate females in some of the most basic things that we aren’t educated with because of our gender. For instance, how often can a female go to the gym for the first time ever knowing right away what majority, if not all, of the equipment does and how to use it? That is just one tiny example of being a female and being restricted in that mindset. There is such a negative stereotypical about females working out being dumb and not properly knowing how to deal with equipment. Never once do people think about the fact that we want to learn but no one ever teaches us because working out and exercising is still a male dominant activity in a world where health should not have gender.
With all of this being said I hope that I am able to do the training, gather members and be able to come back strong Fall 2022 to be an ambassador for CHAARGE at Winthrop University. I feel like this is something that was meant to be. I feel like this is something that is calling my name. But above all I know that this is something all universities should have because of how beneficial it can be for all female students mentally, socially, and physically.