Sucess Story:
Melissa Garland
“It has to be a life style change. Find what works for you, remember what it was like to be a kid and play, find what play works for you. For me, it’s figure skating .”
Melissa Garland, Adjunct Marketing Communications Coordinator, has been with Grand Valley in Institutional Marketing for two years. From the very start her co-workers have been supportive and have encouraged her to try the health and wellness classes available at Grand Valley. While she started out with nutrition courses, she soon took on physical exercise courses such as yoga and TRX.
In addition to exercise classes, Melissa participates in campus challenges whenever she can. “Almost every time there’s been a challenge, like the pedometer challenge, I do my best to try and take that on. I’ve had some trouble with my hip, I’ve had more failure than success, but I never give up.” She also keeps physically active with figure skating , which is a passion for her. She is an advisor for the Grand Valley Synchronized Skating team, as well as a figure skating judge. Despite her many responsibilities at home and work, she makes time to skate in order to keep her body and mind healthy.
In June 2016, Melissa was diagnosed with diabetes. Although she has taken classes and stayed active, with this diagnosis Melissa took it a step further with her nutrition. She started counting calories and looking for healthier food options. “The GVSU Farmer’s Market is something I look forward to every Wednesday in the summer, finding healthy local fresh foods, and that really helped me change my life style.” With these healthy options, Melissa replaced potato chips with raw vegetables, especially beets.
Two main sources of motivation and support for Melissa come from family and the skating community. Despite giving into temptation every once in a while, she has family and community to support her. Another motivation for her is to achieve gold-level status as a skater with U.S. Figure Skating. She is currently working on her skills to pass several adult gold-level tests in the future.