My Peer Health Exchange Experience

Fall semester of my sophomore year at Fordham, I joined a national organization based out of Fordham, called Peer Health Exchange, or PHE. Originally, I had joined on behalf of a good friend, who relayed to me that they were short on recruitment. I did not expect to have such a rewarding experience with the program, nor to gain the knowledge and friendships I have made during my time with PHE. 

This is the whole national organization's goal!

Peer Health Exchange is a volunteer organization, which recruits, selects, and trains college students to teach in low-income, urban high schools. PHE believes that health education is critical to a high school student's experience, and partners with schools to provide or supplement their health education programs. The college student volunteers, or Health Educators (H.E.s), learn the curriculum to bring to the classrooms, and act as approachable and relatable mentors to the high school students. H.E.s teach four workshop units: Reflection, Communication & Advocacy, Accessing Resources, and Decision Making. These workshops, while giving students valuable knowledge, also empower them to make informed choices that can contribute to all areas of their lives. 

My PHE materials!

I have taught the Accessing Resources workshops for my entire PHE experience. Accessing Resources focuses on giving students the knowledge they need to find valid information on their own health questions, with an emphasis on sexual health. I have walked away from classrooms countless times feeling as if I had delivered to students information that they could benefit from. It has been so rewarding for me to see the students further question me about facts, and knowing that I gave them the knowledge and skills they can use to make choices that are right for them. 

I too, have benefitted from my time with PHE. Thanks to my training, I have become a more confident public speaker, and learned a lot about making healthy decisions that I did not know before. I have gotten involved with the Bronx community around Fordham, and established friendships within the Fordham community that I would have otherwise never made. I look forward to the remaining time I will spend with PHE, as it has become an incredibly significant part of my Fordham experience. 

Staying Happy and Healthy at Fordham

I am so excited to be back at Fordham for the Spring Semester! I missed Fordham’s beautiful campus, and all of my friends over the Summer.  It’s going to be an adjustment moving away from home and starting a whole new routine. However, Fordham is a great place with so many resources that help you maintain both  mental and physical health!halfway done with my Fordham experience.

Welcome to The Ram Fit Center!

Fordham  is equipped with the state of the art  “Ram Fit” center located in the McGinley center, just below the cafeteria   The Ram Fit center is open from  six am to twelve am, so you can  make time for some exercise even if you have the most hectic schedule. I usually like to go around nine pm when it’s not too crowded! There are countless stationary bikes, ellipticals,  and treadmills, each one with a built in TV and iPhone doc. The ram fit center also contains workout machines for all parts of your body, as well as a wide array of free weights.  The fitness center offers different classes on a weekly basis such as yoga,  Pilates, zumba, and  my personal favorite spin!

Here are just a few of Fordham's state of the art stationary bikes and treadmills!

Fordham  is aware that fitness is only one part of a student’s well-being.  Fordham’s cafeteria offers a variety of healthy food options such as the salad station and the gluten free/ vegan  station.  But let’s be serious, even if you eat healthy and exercise, there is still the possibility of getting sick. Not to worry! Fordham’s health center is located in O’Hare Hall.  You can call and make an appointment, or come as a walk in.  In addition  to the health center, Fordham also has its own EMT service, Fordham university emergency medical service, more commonly referred to as FUMES.

My delicious and healthy dinner, compliments of the Fordham Cafeteria!

Fordham also provides many services that can help aid your mental health.  Fordham Psychological services is a free and anonymous way to get any help you may need.  Aside from regular one on one therapy sessions, Fordham offers  group therapy sessions based on various issues. Fordham’s proven to be a great support system for me, between friends, professors, resident assistants, and resident ministers I’ve never felt alone! Fordham fosters an environment where students are free to be happy and healthy!

Peer Health Exchange

Interested in volunteering? Interested in health or education? Want to make a positive impact on high school students? Then, Peer Health Exchange is the club for you! Peer Health Exchange, or PHE, is a non-profit organization, whose mission is to give teenagers the knowledge and skills they need to make healthy decisions.

How can students get involved? Undergraduate students can get involved by applying to be Health Educators (HEs) at www.peerhealthexchange.org/apply.  HEs are on a specific team and undergo training to teach one of the health workshops at public high schools that have no health education. To date, PHE has trained over 7,500 college student volunteers to bring health education to more than 96,000 public high schools located in the beloved NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington D.C.

A good and funny try at spelling P-H-E

 

What are the different health workshops? There’s a lot! To mention the ones taught through Fordham, the workshops are:

·         Sexual Decision-Making (SDM)

 

·         Pregnancy Prevention (PP)

 

·         Rape & Sexual Assault (RSA)

 

·         Abusive Relationships (AR)

 

·         Healthy Relationships (HR)

 

·         Mental Health (MH)

 

·         Nutrition & Physical Activity (NPA)

 

·         STIs & HIV

 

·         Decision-Making and Communication I & II (DMC I & II)

 

·         Drugs (DR)

 

·         Alcohol (AL)

 

·         Tobacco (TOB)

 

How many people are on each workshop team? Each team is led by one of the members of the Leadership Council (LC), with a Senior Health Educator (SHE), and three Health Educators (HEs). The wonderful Co-Coordinators (CCs) lead and manage all workshops, under the direction of our humble and hard-working Program Manager.

Here's my lovely fellow HE, sophomore Hannah Buckley!
We both teach SDM!

When do students apply? PHE recruits Health Educators during the fall and spring semesters. Once you apply, an interview process will be held with the AWESOME Leadership Council and Co-Coordinators! And who knows? Maybe if you’re a part of PHE, you’ll be so inspired to get more involved by applying to be a CC or LC or even a SHE!

 

 



Here's the great LC for SDM, senior Dan Mullen! Did I mention he's awesome?

 

  Even if you’re NOT interested in health or education, you can still get involved! I’m actually a business student. Of all the organizations I have been a part of, PHE is definitely the BEST! Not only will you make a difference by providing a much-needed service to students who are facing such high pressures that inhibit them from making healthy decisions, but you will also get to train and educate with fun and incredible people, who are some of the most genuine people I have ever met.



Fordham Peer Health Exchange

90% of teens who were educated in a PHE workshop intend to take what they learned to help them in making healthy decisions about what is right for them. I highly recommend PHE for students, who want to be a part of the fun, use tons of acronyms haha, but most importantly, be a part of inspiring others and making a difference!