Featured Friar: Emily Wall ’21: A Friar Focused on Health and Fitness

by The Cowl Editor on January 17, 2019


Features


Wall ’21 is able to tackle her athletic and academic schedule, while pursuing in what she loves.

by Hannah Langley ’21

News Co-Editor

While not everyone at Providence College is a student athlete, students can work and train just as hard as one in the Concannon Fitness Center using the right exercises and equipment. 

Emily Wall ’21, a biology major, member of the Liberal Arts Honors program, and an athlete on PC’s cross country and track team, is helping students do this with a weightlifting program she created through an internship accessible to the entire PC community for only $5.

Last semester, Wall found an online internship opportunity through Dasha Agoulnik, a graduate student from Tufts University, which allowed her to further explore the world of health and fitness.

Wall’s final project included creating her own fitness plan, which consists of a seven-day weightlifting routine that can be followed for eight to 10 weeks. Wall explained that while this may seem intimidating to those who do not regularly go to the gym, the plan is designed for anyone to use. 

“[It] gives freedom to the person following it, so they can determine the amount of weight they should be lifting and the intensity,” said Wall.

The internship took place throughout the fall semester and was entirely online. “I communicated with Dasha frequently through email and phone to discuss what I needed to do and how to improve the projects I was working on,” Wall explained. 

She also talked about how fitting the internship into her already busy schedule was not difficult for her, saying, “I had the ability to work on my projects whenever I wanted, and I just had to make sure to submit my weekly project by Saturday of that week.”

Wall also worked on smaller tasks throughout the semester for Dasha Agoulnik’s business, CoreRestore, which focuses on helping people improve their gut health by giving helpful recipes, tips, and tricks through email subscriptions.

One of Wall’s favorite parts about creating her final fitness plan, besides being able to help others on their own fitness journeys, was the research behind it. “I really enjoyed reading articles written by other scientists,” mentioned Wall, “and I want to learn everything I can from experienced scientists.”

Wall mentioned how she had always wanted to know more about health, fitness, and nutrition, as indicated by her passion for running and her interest in biology. “I took this internship because I am truly interested in nutrition and helping others,” said Wall. 

She also mentioned how she learned a lot about different autoimmune diseases, how nutrition affects people in different ways, and how to use software she had never used before through this internship, and is grateful for the experience.

Now that Wall’s internship has come to an end, her plan for this semester is to focus on her schoolwork and her recovery from a running injury she got at the end of last semester. She also hopes to start volunteering at a local doctor’s office and possibly starting her own health and fitness blog. 

Wall also runs her own health and fitness Instagram account @emwfit_, which she hopes inspires people to live healthy and happy lives, saying, “I try to motivate others to do what they love and to enjoy the life they are living.”