If you come to our facilities frequently, it is likely you have caught a glimpse of our insanely talented staffer Paige Perkins. Paige is currently a Fitness Instructor and Fitness Program Assistant. She just established the ISU CHAARG Chapter, she is the NIRSA State Student Leader for Iowa, and she organized the Fitness & Wellness Expo we held earlier this month. As an instructor, she teaches regular classes from week to week. As a Program Assistant, she helps the Fitness Coordinator with daily tasks, helps manage all of our instructors, helps lead the Learn to Teach instructor training course, plans special events, etc. Most people are not familiar with NIRSA and CHAARG so we asked Paige to explain her involvement in these.
“Last march I was elected as the NIRSA Iowa State Student Leader. This position has allowed me to explore the NIRSA organization a lot more and has given me a ton of opportunities to continue in this field. My role is to inform others at ISU and in the state of Iowa working in campus recreation about NIRSA opportunities and recruit them to become a part of NIRSA.
I also worked very hard over this past summer and fall semester to bring an organization called CHAARG to ISU! I was chosen to be the founding ambassador here and I am very excited to be launching our Chapter this semester! CHAARG is a national organization at over 60 other universities and stands for Changing Health, Attitudes, and Actions to Recreate Girls. This organization is all about showing girls that owning their fitness and health is owning their life. We help girls learn about living healthy and holistic lifestyles and help them make that their new reality. Each one of us is different and all of us enjoy different things so CHAARG helps girls find their fit! Whether it’s yoga, running, weightlifting, hiking, etc., CHAARG has something for everyone. My goal is to create a community of girls here at ISU that are working towards the same vision which is to ultimately become the absolute best version of themselves. The best way to foster change within yourself is to spend time around those that are trying to do the same thing and what better way than through the CHAARG community!”
Outside of Rec Services, Paige is a student just like us (but a hundred times busier). She is majoring in Kinesiology and Health with a minor in Health Promotion. Originally from Illinois, she knew she wanted to go out of state while still being close to home and she wanted to study kinesiology, so naturally, ISU was the perfect choice for her. She loves how such a large school can feel like such a small and tight-knit community. In her free time Paige enjoys doing CrossFit and anything outdoors like hiking, biking, camping, etc. She has gone on a few of our Outdoor Rec trips to Utah and Georgia and has loved those experiences!
Paige is looking forward to continuing her career in campus recreation. “I feel like rec services is just one big family… I’ve made friends and built relationships that will last a lifetime. Work here doesn’t feel like work most of the time”, we couldn’t agree more, Paige! Staff members like Paige make Rec Services go round. I will leave you with her favorite mantra as a little motivation: Head up, eyes forward, keep going!
If you know a student staff member that deserves to be recognized in our blog, let us know by emailing recservicesmarketing@gmail.com