Nicholas Pomante

Title

Wellness Coordinator, Office of Wellness and Community Responsibility

Years at EMU

3 years

Why You Like Working Here

My favorite part about working here is the people. I came here as a student because of the personal feel that EMU gave, and that’s also why I stay here as an employee. There aren’t many places you can go where your work family feels like your real family, and that’s a pretty cool feeling.

Favorite EMU Moment

As an employee, my favorite moment was the first event that I ever ran as the wellness coordinator. It was our October Wellness Woof event in 2018, where we brought in therapy dogs to meet the students. There were hundreds of students there, and I watched them all get along, meet new people, and have fun. Being able to see the reactions of the people I serve has always been motivating and inspiring to me, and being able to see them enjoy themselves because of the work we put in was really validating.

Favorite Campus Spot

The third floor of the Student Center overlooking the ponds. You can see a good chunk of campus from there. It’s especially nice when there’s fresh snow, and you can look out and see everything all white and pristine. Sometimes when I need to take a walk to generate ideas, I’ll walk there and look out the window and take in the view. That’s where I’ve had some of my best a-ha moments.

Surprising Fact

My Achilles’ heel is the apple fritters at Dom’s Donuts, which is surprising because of how healthy people might expect me to be. If you’ve never tried one before, they come at the recommendation of the wellness coordinator.

Superpower

I would definitely want to fly like Vegeta or Goku from Dragon Ball Z.

Interesting/Fun Stay-at-Home Order Activity

I hiked the Nordhouse Dunes and the Manistee River Trail in northern Michigan. That was a really fun way to get away from the trappings of society while still maintaining physical distancing and staying healthy and safe.

Next Goal

We’ve recently developed a points-based programming model where students can earn points for participating in or attending campus events. Developing this model is something I had wanted to do since I started in this role. We never had the time, space or bandwidth to do that until COVID hit, where it became imperative that we find a way to connect with students virtually. I started researching ways we could do that and found the EngageEMU app. My goal over the summer was to get our whole division on board with promoting and hosting our programs on this app, and my goal for this year is to get as many students engaged in these programs as possible.

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