Harder Better Faster Stronger: Health Expo

By Broadside Staff Writer Mrinalini Ramanan

George Mason University students took a break to attend the Health and Fitness Expo on March 26 and 27 in Dewberry Hall.

The Expo was organized by the Health and Fitness Expo Taskforce, comprised mostly of faculty and administrators from the Health Services department. Carol Filak, the Administrative Director of Student Health Services at Mason, has been overseeing the success of the event since 1999. Filak collaborates between various departments in Mason, namely dining services, Student Media, Nursing and Athletics, to help organize the Health and Fitness Expo.

“[The] vendors we get are mostly George Mason Alumni,” said Filak, pointing out that vendors from the community also offer to set up their stalls and talk to Mason students about their services and products that would benefit their health.

Vendors such as the Washington Regional Transplant Community have been regulars at the Expo, offering information on how individuals can donate their organs, if they choose to do so, after dying. Julie Trapp, a media center assistant from a high school in Maryland, is a volunteer in this organization.

“In a very small amount of time, my husband and I had to make a decision to donate my son’s organs after he died,” Trapp said. “I do not want people to go through what I went through. I think students should know how to make informed decisions on their own organs while they are still alive and not let someone else decide for them.”

Other vendors were familiar faces from Ciao Hall, who served chicken and pineapple noodle delicacies to whoever drew near them. The executive chef of Mason’s dining services assisted in an Iron Chef competition between the Feminist Ninjas and the Student Activities Staff on Wednesday. The audience was impressed by the dishes the teams produced, and were commenting on the techniques of the chefs.

The event drew students from various walks of life as well. Jinky Recerone, a health system management senior, heard about the expo from her teacher during her first year at Mason. She has been coming to the Expo since then “This year, there are a lot more people, the food is a little healthier, there are more fruit and vegetables around in the stalls,” Recerone said. “My favorite part is the give-aways,” she said, as she stood in line for a free T-shirt.

The free T-shirts, however, were not just give-aways, but rather, rewards for the participants in the expo who talked to five different categories of stalls. The participant had to solicit information on health, nutrition, recreation and fitness, alternative therapies, get a health screening and receive a sticker for their interest. This cumulative activity then awarded the participant with a green T-shirt that read, “HFE made me…Harder Better Faster Stronger,” a motto that matched the charged atmosphere in Dewberry Hall.