By Sarabeth Castro
The past two years have been some of the most difficult the world has faced. But even so, isolation has created opportunities to reconnect to our inner selves and discover new hobbies that may be challenging at first, but ultimately allow us to overcome and excel. Here’s what NAIT students are doing to keep mentally, physically, and socially fit.
Balancing with Balance Board (BalBo)
Princess Jazzmin Abdul is a first-year student in Business Administration focused on Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She likes balancing on a Balance Board, also called BalBo. Abdul has incorporated BalBo into her slow workout routine, but also enjoys the activity because it reminds her of the sea.
“It started when I missed the tropics – the sandy beach and the saltwater. We live 10-minutes away from the beach, and I love some water activities, especially Stand-Up Paddle Boarding and Swimming. Though I am still a beginner at BalBo, I am very enthusiastic about learning other stunts. Balbo [helps me relieve] stress and muscle tension and helps me with my homesickness.”
Spin Wool and Knitting
Logan Harris is a second-year student in business administration focused on management. Harris started his project by getting rovings from a farm down by Calgary to make into chunky roving blankets seen in magazines. He said that at first, the roving blanket was a disaster and he had wool fluff everywhere. “I had 8 lbs. of wool that shed worse than any dog, and I had to readjust my final project.”
The blanket pictured took him countless hours to finish. “I’d spin until my spool was filled with single-strand yarn, then I’d roll the yarn into a ball and repeat the process.” The process was lengthy, and although he felt that the final product was uneven, he was happy with it and finds the process therapeutic.
Chocolate Dipped Treats
Asmahan Fattah is a second-year student pursuing a degree in Human Resources. She found herself playing the guitar and cooking during the pandemic. “I always loved to cook and bake and loved learning things about the culinary world. In a time like a pandemic, I think small things like food/cuisine can always bring people together to share a moment of happiness,” said Fattah.
She started a small business last year from her hobbies. “There had been so many viral trends and people starting their businesses throughout the pandemic that it sparked the idea to start my own,” said Fattah. After purchasing supplies, she began with chocolate-covered strawberries and chocolate molds and expanded from there. Fattah expressed that the benefit of giving something you worked hard on to someone and having them react positively brings happiness during trying times.
Website Creation
Cyrus Gallardo is a second-year student taking Business Administration. His interest in making websites started with WordPress, which can be personalized with easy-to-use Graphical User Interfaces. Users can customize and view websites without previous knowledge of programming.
Venturing into this hobby was easy for him because he acquired a certificate in Computer Network Administrator through NAIT. He has knowledge about CSS, HTML, and PHP, which are some of the requirements to create a website from scratch. This hobby helped him spend his time having fun while learning new things.
