> SEMESTER AT SEA—2 J U NE 201 3
> CACUSS 2013 - A Reflection - 4
> ACUHO-I 2013 - 5
Sharing the Learning
President’s Corner Hello OACUHO Members, The board is hard at work on a number of initiatives. We had a very productive face to face meeting at Western on June 10. Thank you for all who voted in our PD Director elections I am excited to announce that Suni Karir from Trent University will be joining the board as PD Director. Don’t forget to sign-up for our webinar about our initiative with Egale Canada on LGBTQ training in residence. I wrote or crafted much of this President's Corner on a brisk walk. I love walking and always have. I love cycling too. Several years ago I experienced a shift where instead of viewing my (very short) commute to work as a hassle I begin to appreciate the walk or ride. This year at ACUHO-I we heard from Dr John J. Medina a Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Medina was an excellent keynote with a fast-paced and engaging style. In his talk he spoke about how important a daily brisk walk is for your health. He described both the long and short term effects on your brain. A daily 30 minute brisk walk significantly decreases your chances of experiencing dementia and alzheimer’s in your golden years. But even more exciting is the very, very short-term effects of a 30 minute brisk walk. You have a significant brain boost in the minutes immediately following your aerobic activity. In fact Dr Medina suggested doing something important that requires your brain function immediately after your walk. No shower, no rest – right to an important task (ie not e-mail). He suggested for even better results to do two 30 minute brisk walks in a day.
Another cool recommendation he spoke about was taking a 26 minute nap in the afternoon. Precisely 12 hours after the mid-point of your previous night’s sleep. He said we all push through the energy dip and make it through the afternoon – but for our mental and physical health he suggests not fighting it and finding a place for a quick, quiet nap. I can’t do the science justice. I’m certainly not a molecular biologists and I’m not a Professor of Bioengineering. However as an educator I was struck by the similarities of what he described to our K-12 school system. Two 30 minutes walks – that sounds like recess to me. I don’t know about you – but I’ve been missing Kindergarten naps for a while. Why am I talking about this in my OACUHO President’s Corner? At every conference the topics of energy, time, balance and health come up. From colleagues and mentees I’m asked about how many hours I work vs how many hours I sleep much more often than I’m asked about hot topics in student housing. Health, wellness, balance etc. is the ultimate hot topic in student affairs. There are tools and strategies to help and they are age old – exercise and rest. Let’s try these strategies and become better equipped to deal with our challenging days as student housing professionals. Thank you! Chad Nuttall President of OACUHO
- PAGE 1 -
CONNECT WITH OACUHO #OACUHO360