Why My K-12 Education Is Important To Me

For my K-12 education, I attended the arts public schools in Milwaukee. I never had much interest in math or science. I didn’t think they were relative to me. All of my life I was a dancer: Irish, jazz, ballet, West Africa, musical theatre. I was naturally shy and found a spiritual freedom when moving on stage. I majored in dance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, determined to share my love of physical fitness and art with the next generation. However, as fulfilling as dancing every day was, the pressure to have a “ballerina” type body led me to develop an eating disorder in high school. I couldn’t see how beautiful my athletic body was. Today, I look back at the pictures of myself in high school and college and sigh. I wish I could tell my younger self to stop being so concerned with having the “perfect” body and to love myself. On my continued quest to find the best diet for lasting results, my mind finally woke up and asked, “Why?” Why do experts recommend this approach or say a certain food is bad? How do they know that? If various “experts” recommended opposing strategies, which one is right? All of my friends and family had these same questions. Each confessed disliking their body, each had a different solution, yet they all looked …show more content…
I am learning how to apply chemistry, biology, and physiology to the current healthcare issues of obesity, malnutrition, and chronic diseases. I am learning how a person’s environmental and psychological factors intertwine to influence their food choices and eating patterns. It’s common knowledge that being overweight is unhealthy and fruits and vegetables are good for you, but how do you change people’s behaviors? What ecological fac-tors are at play on an unconscious level that persuades a person to choose French fries instead of sal-ad? And then how can we design an environment that promotes healthy foods, makes a side salad and apple the default