by The Cowl Editor on April 11, 2019
Features
by Hannah Langley ’21
News Co-Editor
Between academics, extra curricular activities, leadership responsibilities, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, finding a balance can sometimes be a challenge for many college students. Stephanie Amefia ’19 is an example of a Providence College student who has been able to successfully achieve all of this.
As a Pawtucket, Rhode Island native, Amefia wasn’t sure if she would come to PC, but after visiting, she immediately knew this was where she wanted to spend her next four years. “The community here spoke louder to me more than anything,” she stated.
Going into her freshman year, Amefia was excited to get involved, saying how she was extremely active in groups such as Motherland Dance Group, events such as the Afro-Am Fashion Show, and several intramural teams.
While Amefia is still involved in these clubs, her current dedication and responsibilities as a senior lie elsewhere. As a marketing and management double major, she not only has a heavy course load, but also an internship that takes up much of her time.
One of Amefia’s biggest passions and achievements during her college career has been creating her own Instagram fitness page, @steph_into_fitness. Created in March 2018, Amefia originally created the account to inspire herself to begin her own fitness journey, as well as to show her struggles and learning in order to hopefully inspire others who were also trying to become healthier. Her account has been active for just over a year now and currently has nearly 1,300 followers. “My goal,” Amefia said, “is to reach more people, ultimately to inspire and motivate them to begin a journey of their own.”
Amefia talked about all the positive feedback she has received surrounding her account and how happy she is to have inspired so many people so far. “I want to be able to tell college students that regardless of our busy schedules . . . we can still take time to exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle,” she said.
Amefia’s mission is to help inspire body image positivity and encourage people to love themselves. “I used to eat anything,” Amefia said while talking about what inspired her to begin this journey. “I remember when I started my fitness journey, I used to scroll on social media wishing I could look like those influencers I saw. I had to remind myself to be realistic . . . work for the body I want and love the person I am.”
She continued, saying, “Even if I may not look like [other] influencers, as long as I am healthy and consistently working hard on myself, I am good enough.”
Following graduation, Amefia hopes to establish an actual fitness brand called Steph into Fitness to try and reach not only PC students, but college students everywhere, in order to inspire them to live healthier lifestyles. Currently, her plan for Steph into Fitness is for it to include workout programs, meal plans, and motivational tips to help college students begin their own fitness journey.
Since Amefia is finishing up her career at PC, she reflected on how much she has learned and the experiences she has gained through the PC community. When asked what advice she would give to both current and future PC students, some of Amefia’s biggest pieces of advice were to have fun, get an education, take care of your mind, body, and soul, make friends with people of different ethnicities and races, go off-campus more, and get involved without pushing your limits.
While Amefia has many people she would like to thank, she wanted to recognize Professor Janet Letourneau, practitioner faculty in marketing. “Not only did she teach me marketing,” Amefia said, “but she also taught me life lessons that I will continue to use for the rest of my life.”
As a Residence Assistant, she would also like to thank her residents, both past and present, as they have made her job easier and allowed her to be there for them, as well as Joseph Gemma, assistant dean of undergraduate studies, and Eileen Wisnewski, former director of the center for career education and professional development.
Amefia closed, saying, “I would like to thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to be a part of the Providence College family.”