By Gabrielle Owens
Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center is offering the “Read. RECreate. Reward!” scholarship, a semester-long program that gives students a chance to win a $1,000 award.
Cameron Adams, assistant director of operations and guest services, and his staff started the scholarship program during the spring 2020 semester to help students create a balance between school and physical activity.
“What it’s meant to do is to get people active because there is a lot of research out there that says if students work out on a regular basis, they can do better in school. Also, we felt it was a good way for them to engage with other students,” he said.
Adams said students participating in the RRR scholarship will have to work out four times a week during the first 10-12 weeks of the semester. Also, they will have to provide a video at the end of the semester to discuss how working out in the program helped improve their overall well-being.
“You can come to the rec center, you can participate in intramurals, club sports, take trips through the adventure rec or do some of our special events,” he said.
In order for the rec center to track students’ participation in the program, participants will have to swipe their Y Card or scan with the YSU App when entering the facility.
“We have a system software called Fusion that we use and we’re able to track all that information to see how many visits that they have throughout the semester and we have interns that help us compile the data,” Adams said.
The non-renewable RRR scholarship will be applied to each award recipients’ tuition at the beginning of the academic year of fall 2021.
“We had two winners last spring and we will have two winners this spring, so it’s for $1,000 for the following year,” he said.
Adams said being able to provide the scholarship for students is an awesome feeling and he hopes the program will continue at YSU.
“I think it’s a really important piece of the college experience to build those healthy habits for the rest of your life,” he said. “Get involved, come work out, have fun, there’s no time limits on how long you have to be here.”
Kristi Meenan, a junior biology major, won the RRR scholarship last spring.
“I was filled with excitement and gratefulness when awarded the scholarship. It has helped me so much with paying off tuition this year and I could not be more thankful,” she said.
Meenan advises students to participate in the scholarship program and encourages them to finish it.
“I would advise this year’s participants to do everything they can to stick with it for the whole semester. It can seem like a lot of work, but it keeps you healthy, active and gives you a chance to blow off stress from school,” Meenan said.
Students interested in joining the program can apply online through the campus rec store.
The Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center is offering the “ Read. RECreate. Reward!” scholarship, which is a semester long program that will allow students to win a $1,000 award.
Photo Courtesy of ysu.edu
