After growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, Alecsandra Renfroe graduated from Seattle Pacific University in 2018 with an undergraduate degree in psychology. She began her Clinical Mental Health and Counseling master’s program in 2020 at Portland State University, and plans to graduate in the spring of 2023. After graduation, Alecsandra hopes to start her own therapy practice someday, but is open and flexible to new ideas.
Alecsandra became the Staff Development Assistant for Campus Rec in September of 2020. Although the position was fully remote at that time, she found a sense of community and is thankful for the opportunity to meet and connect with new people. She feels connected to Campus Rec’s mission and values of inclusion and diversity because they align perfectly with her own values and career aspirations as a therapist.
In February of 2020, Alecsandra co-created the body positive movement, Love Your Body Week, at Portland State University. A collaboration between PSU’s Campus Rec and Student Health and Counseling (SHAC), Love Your Body week consisted of body-positive speakers, resources, and different events offered virtually for the PSU community. Since then, the week-long event has expanded into a set of Love Your Body resources that are available year-round. Love Your Body Week will return to the PSU campus in May of 2022, with a focus on radical self-love and body liberation.
According to Alecsandra, the number one tip for learning to love your body is grace. Being graceful with yourself is a process. She explains that we have been pushed as a society to think a certain way about the perfect body, which makes loving your own body hard. We must work to change that mindset. All bodies are good bodies. She recommends starting the day with gratitude in order to develop grace and self-love. This practice has helped Alecsandra on her journey to body acceptance. She also reminds herself that humans make mistakes.
Another way that Alecsandra stays body positive is through her relationship with social media, which often creates a false representation of bodies. The first step is to acknowledge that social media can be pervasive, and that content can be harmful without the consumer even knowing it. Engaging with uplifting and positive accounts can help to break the cycle of toxicity because you decide what you are exposed to.
For Alecsandra, working at a Rec Center made it all the more important to knock down toxic diet culture and promote size inclusion. Campus Rec’s Health at Every Size ® campaign offers messaging that is similar to Love Your Body Week, focusing on healthy bodies of all shapes and sizes, and challenging stereotypes about who gyms are meant to serve. Alecsandra believes it is essential to educate the community on Health at Every Size principles in order to welcome newcomers and foster a sense of belonging and community at the Rec Center.
Campus Rec is thankful and proud of Alecsandra for the hard work and dedication she has devoted to the Love Your Body Week campaign. We can't wait for Love Your Body Week to return this spring!