Salt Lake Community College’s Gender and Sexuality Student Resource Center and the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs are hosting virtual Zumba classes to get students to exercise.
This opportunity, planners hope, will bring students together to safely have fun during the pandemic and work out the stresses of a college student living in 2020. Taught by Leka Heimuli, a secretary in SLCC multicultural office, the WebEx classes started in October and will continue through the last Thursday of the semester.
Just like many other courses at SLCC, most exercise and workout classes have moved online as people quarantine and remain socially distanced.
Online activity-based classes bring positive and negative aspects to learning, said Carrie Needham, an assistant professor of exercise science.
“The biggest challenge of activity classes online, is not knowing if they are actually completing their workouts,” she said.
Alternatively, Needham says online exercise classes make it easier for students to take classes that were otherwise typically taken face-to-face.
Zumba, a brand name fitness program, consists of dance and aerobic exercise set mainly to Latin American music. Zumba classes held online by the GSSRC and the ODMA mixes a variety of dances from different cultures.
“It felt so good to just dance,” Heimuli said.
Exercising is one of the best ways to stay happy and healthy, which can be tough to keep up during difficult times, like a global pandemic.
“It gives me a sense of accomplishment,” Needham said.
Students don’t have to be enrolled in the weekly Zumba classes to participate, and sessions are open to everyone.
Heimuli said Zumba helps by “keeping me on my toes,” and advises students to “stay active and stay safe” throughout the session.
Unity brings powerful change, according to Needham.
“Completing something together can be powerful,” she said.
The virtual Zumba classes are held every Thursday at noon. Visit the ODMA website for more information.
