{"id":7503,"date":"2016-11-16T16:41:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T22:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/?p=7503"},"modified":"2017-01-20T09:41:02","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T15:41:02","slug":"transfer-student-finds-fit-at-uw-stevens-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/2016\/11\/16\/transfer-student-finds-fit-at-uw-stevens-point\/","title":{"rendered":"Transfer student finds fit at UW-Stevens Point"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"schessler16\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

Renee Schessler ’16 found her fit at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.<\/p>\n

While attending a different UW institution\u00a0Schessler, from the Milwaukee area, she felt something was missing. She waited an hour to see an adviser, had large classes sizes, and said she felt like just a number.<\/p>\n

An aunt who lives in Stevens Point suggested she give UW-Stevens Point a look. Schessler did,\u00a0and never looked back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it here.\u00a0The professors are really great,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cMy adviser was one of my health promotion professors, and I could walk right into her office.\u201d<\/p>\n

She switched majors from biology to health promotion\/wellness<\/a>. A bachelor\u2019s degree in either will help her reach her career goal: to become a physician’s assistant. She realized looking in a microscope didn\u2019t teach how to interact with people, a vital component of health care. This major prepared her for the rigorous coursework of graduate school, and also gave insight to how the mind \u2013\u00a0as well as the body \u2013\u00a0works.<\/p>\n

An internship at Aspirus Wausau Hospital<\/a> last summer also provide Schessler helpful experience. She was a health and wellness intern, working with Aspirus\u2019 community health manager. A favorite part was promoting and coordinating the fruit and veggie prescription\u00a0(FVRx) program.<\/p>\n

As part of the program, pediatricians wrote \u201cprescriptions\u201d for a diet with vegetables and fruits. Aspirus then gave $10 vouchers to patients, redeemable at a weekly farmers\u2019 market at the hospital. Schessler provided families and employees with nutritional information and highlighted a featured vegetable of the week, offering recipes and storage tips.<\/p>\n

Goals of helping these families experience a fresh farmers market were to encourage them to continue buying fresh fruits and vegetables and improve their diet.<\/p>\n

The FVRx program Schessler worked with was started by Aspirus in collaboration with Portage County Can and UW-Stevens Point nutrition sciences graduate students Ashley Chrisinger who has sustained and expanded the partnership to be offered by both Aspirus and Ministry\/Ascension and in include other partners such as UW Extension.<\/p>\n

Schessler also worked on updating an exercise education component of a community weight loss challenge program that will launch in January. She had several opportunities to shadow medical experts at the hospital, including those in the Cancer Treatment Center.<\/p>\n

Working at Aspirus helped her to become more confident in her abilities and interactions, Schessler said. Her supervisor, Tara Draeger, trusted her to make decisions and act, which instilled confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people think of an internship as gaining experience. You do, but you also grow as a person,\u201d Schessler said. That has served her well in her current role as health and wellness assistant at Skyward, Inc.<\/p>\n

As she continues to take classes to prepare for PA training, Schessler offers two pieces of advice for students:<\/p>\n

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