By Stephanie McAlpine, 2014-2015 NIRSA Championship Series Committee Chair
What inspires you? What motivates you to achieve your goals and keep pushing forward on a daily basis? On my campus, it’s the first week of classes for the spring semester and the Maverick Activities Center (MAC) is packed with thousands of students, faculty, and staff. Amid the hustle and bustle, I took a quick poll of a few participants and asked what motivated them to be active.
I wondered whether it was the free group exercise classes, the need to show off their new shoes from Santa, or just an urge to lose the extra pounds they gained in 2014. The specific answers varied, but every participant alluded to some kind of inspiration leading them to start 2015 off healthy. For me, there are a number of things that inspire me as we begin 2015:
- My daughter’s contagious laughter and smile
- My passionate NIRSA colleagues
- High-achieving student participants
- My new pink running shoes
- My husband’s 2014 weight loss—which might even inspire a competition in 2015!
I’ve actually pulled images representing each of these bits of inspiration onto a Pinterest Board titled “2015 Inspiration.”
I also want the NIRSA Championship Series to start healthy this year—and, fortunately, the Series is already off to a great start. Two hundred and forty passionate and talented professionals—the largest number ever—are willing to serve our Association within the nine NIRSA Championship Series work teams this year. We also had the best National Flag Football Championships to date with the highest ever engagement on various social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter, unmatched officials and staff development, and the finest southern hospitality from both the University of Western Florida and the city of Pensacola! NIRSA’s new transgender athlete policy was also highly praised by Title IX expert Erin Buzuvis— a professor at Western New England University School of Law and the Director of the Center for Gender & Sexuality Studies—on her Title IX Blog.
I was blessed in 2014 to serve as Chair to the NIRSA Championship Series, and I know that none of the Series’ accomplishments would have been possible without the many incredible host institutions, countless passionate NIRSA members, hardworking NIRSA Headquarters staff, and of course our amazing student participants. I look forward to another great year within our Association and thank everyone who continues to inspire us to keep pushing forward to make each Championship event better than the last.
Although I did not take a poll of our Association members, I imagine many of you also want to start 2015 healthy. I hope you find your inspiration, and wish you the best of luck achieving your goals!
