The Well’s Website:

https://www.jmu.edu/healthcenter/TheWell/

0:02 Jordan: Hi there, welcome to Well Dukes, brought to you by The Well. Each week, you’ll hear conversations from a variety of JMU staff and students that we hope challenge what you know, think, and do in regards to your own health and helps you be Well Dukes.

0:21 Jordan: Hello! Here we are Dukes - our fifteenth and final episode for the semester. It's Jordan again. And I want to take this time to thank you all for listening, and also give a little behind the scenes, so to speak, on what it's been like making this podcast so far. However, I’m not alone today. I have a special co-host, someone you have not heard from yet. This someone has been very important in helping make this podcast happen, and my co-host today is Aj Levy.

0:53 Aj: Hello! Hi everybody, like Jordan said, my name is Aj, I'm a second year graduate student in the School Psychology program here at JMU, and I am the Graduate Assistant in The Well for health promotion, which this semester has meant that I help Jordan create this podcast every week. So, I'm always behind the scenes. And we wanted to give everybody a little bit of a peek behind the scenes in terms of how this podcast gets made, how we decided to start a podcast, why we did that. And so why don't you talk a little bit about that?

1:32 Jordan: Yeah, so I-- You all have heard from me a little bit throughout the semester in different episodes. But I don't want to take full credit for it. This is not completely my brainchild. A few colleagues of mine have kind of mentioned it throughout and it came up last year, but it really just didn't seem like the right time to start a podcast. And then, when COVID happened and we were all working remotely, we had to plan, like, how are we going to reach students with the information we typically provide when we can’t actually see them in person? And so I literally woke up on a Saturday morning, and was like, “I think we can make this work. Like I, I want to see this happen.” It felt really good to be excited about something; and I just had this huge brain dump. I came up with, you know, kind of the learning outcomes and a bunch of different episode ideas, and how are we going to do this, like, I started researching. But yeah, it was definitely, in a way,... Thinking of a way to get some information to students that wasn't their typical medium. I didn't have the chance, like I used to, to talk about STIs, or body image, or do these programs for Wellness Passport; so we decided this would be a great way to incorporate all program areas of The Well, include our staff members all in kind of the same joint venture, and also a way to start building relationships with other departments, other people across JMU. So that's been something I've also really enjoyed which is just that we've got to interview, like, academic instructors and professors to get just a little bit different point of view than what all of us here in the Well have.

3:21 Aj: How... I do have one question for you: how has it been going from a podcast listener to a podcast host? And what surprised you about that role? 

3:32 Jordan: Um, I love it. And so I just want to say like, shout out and thank you to my boss and the rest of my team for letting me do this because it certainly was something I always wanted to do. I don't know what that says about me as a person, but yeah, like kind of being like, “Oh yeah hey people get to hear me talk.” But I have loved it. And I think, yeah, what surprised me the most was the first time I actually heard my voice and caught myself off guard like, “Oh, this sounds kind of good.” You know, cuz you don't typically we always say like, it's hard to hear your own voice. I used to be the same way, like, when you would hear yourself on a voicemail you're like, “Oh, that's what I sound like?” And I was really caught off guard and pleasantly surprised when I was like, “Oh, I can like change the, you know, my tone and inflection of my tone-- maybe I do have a radio voice.” And then having other people tell me I was like, that's such a nice compliment [laughs] to be told that maybe you don't have, like, an annoying voice. So, I want to know from you, though, like... So that was just kind of why we started this, and as Aj said, he works as our graduate assistant. And when we came back for the semester and Aj came back to work. It was definitely like “Hey, great, welcome back. By the way, you gotta learn how to podcast and edit audio files.” So, I think that might be a question because podcasts... I mean anyone can start a podcast. And that was also the, the hesitancy is just like, “Oh no, are we gonna get in over our heads? Do we know how to do this? Do we have the equipment? What is it like?” And we found out that it's not that bad. Or maybe, I'm maybe speaking for you but uh. So what has it been like for you and what's your role in the podcast?

5:29 Aj: Yeah, so I spend most of my time doing two things for the podcasts. So, I edit it to make sure that it sounds good. And then I also help transcribe each episode for accessibility purposes so that as many people as possible are able to listen to our podcast. And it was definitely interesting when it was first proposed to me on, like, literally the first day back after the summer. And, you know, I was told that we were doing this podcast, and that my job would probably be editing and all that good stuff. And at first I was a little nervous. I was like, I don't know if I have the skills I haven't sound edited anything before, but it's a skill that’s surprisingly easy to develop, and you know after-- of course, it was a learning curve. But, once I started, like, getting into the rhythm of it, it felt really natural. And I, it's a skill that I didn't think I was going to enjoy as much as I do. And now I can brag that I, you know, edited a podcast which is not something that everybody can say that they can do. It's definitely been interesting, it’s definitely taking up most of my time semester, which I pretty much expected from the, from the outset.

6:45 Jordan: Well, I'm so happy that you have enjoyed this because that was also certainly something where I was like, “Oh man, this might stink and, like, Aj’s going to have all this time dedicated to it, and, he’s not going to enjoy it.” I was, I'm very happy and I’m glad that you do enjoy doing it because it is time consuming and I've definitely learned about it too. But not something you thought probably would be a part of this job description. 

7:14 Aj: Yeah, it's been interesting because, I mean, it's an understatement to say that this semester has been unpredictable, and you've had to do a lot of, you know, adapting as a school and as a country, everybody. And so I felt like this is a great thing that we do that can be consistent because, regardless of whether we were in the office or at home, we could work on the podcast. And, you know, all you need is a laptop or a computer and a pair of headphones. And so it was very helpful to know that even, regardless of what happens, you're able to do this one thing. If not everything else.

7:55 Jordan: Yeah, absolutely. That's an excellent point. What has been your favorite part of being a part of this podcast?

8:04 Aj: Um, I would say that being able to really take a deep dive into what my colleagues do has been really really interesting, because part of the editing process is, I'll probably listen to each episode like five or six times prior to it even, like, being posted and going live. And so, you know, I hear the same things on repeat a lot. And like I know what my colleagues do here in The Well and I know their areas of expertise, but hearing them actually be able to talk about it and show that expertise, I don't think I've gotten as much experience to do prior to this podcast. And so, really being able to hear them in their element has been really, really, I think, special to me, I have, like, an even greater appreciation for all everybody here now, because of that.

8:54 Jordan: That’s awesome.

8:56 Aj: What about you, what's been your favorite part of being part of this podcast?

9:03 Jordan: I will say, yeah, part of it is selfishly getting to actually be a part of it, and talk. But I think it's also been the episodes that we have students on... Just knowing that I got to be a part of helping them do something that they thought was cool. Or at least that's what they've told me, so I'll take their word for that. But it feels good that I kind of got to give them one opportunity this semester to, you know, say that they did something cool or talk about something that they're passionate about. And then also just hearing their responses, has been so refreshing and admirable. Like, there have been some episodes with students that I've just been blown away of how self aware they are, and it makes me reflect back on my own past of like, man would I have been able to articulate that? Or did I think that at that age? So, yeah, having it be also a chance to have some conversations with students. And coming up with episode ideas. There's so many that we've had. The hard part has been choosing which episode ideas to go with, but it gives me excitement for the future because there are still a lot that we wanna do.

10:24 Aj: Yeah, we started planning for next semester already and I know that we had too many ideas and I'm like well, guess we'll have to pick. Which is not usually a complaint that we get to have. 

10:35 Jordan: Yeah, yeah. [Laughs] So, as a host and as someone that has to listen to everyone's responses, we wanted to have a little fun too. So at the end of every episode we always have the host ask the guests a fun question. So Aj, I have a question for you. (Aj: Okay.) All right. Would you rather live until you are 200, but look like you're 200 the whole time even though you're perfectly healthy; or, look like you're in your 20’s all the way until you die at 65. 

11:17 Aj: My answer to this actually is a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I would prefer to live to 200 but look 200 the whole time because people treat, you know, the elderly with a little more respect, and that means 200 years of respect. [Laughs] And I get to be healthy the whole time so, like, I have physical health, I have, you know, good social relationships. I'll probably be fine emotionally, you know, two hundreds a long time though. I feel like looking 20 when you're 60, is like, a little weird.

11:52 Jordan: I hadn't even thought of that respect piece of it but I definitely agree. Yeah, because you can be like uh, I've seen a lot of stuff. So, I know what I’m talking about. 

12:01 Aj: It's like, I have 150 years of experience on this Earth, let me tell you something. [Laughing] And then my question for you, and we haven't told each other these questions ahead of time, it's a little more deep. But, do you have any numbers that have any special meaning to you? If so, what is it and why?

12:20 Jordan: Well okay, so there is a number that immediately came to mind, and that is the number of 44. Which is because when I was younger, I don't really know the story behind it, but I was told 44 was my grandfather's lucky number. And I just didn't get to spend a lot of time around him growing up. But I always... I had this connection, even though I saw him once a year, I just always still kind of felt kind of a connection towards him. And he passed away when I was a freshman in college. And so I just thought-- I've never been a person to have like a lucky number or superstitious number or anything like that. But I would say, yeah. If there's any number that had meaning to me; it was 44. But then I also thought, I was like, wait should I be thinking of something else like my wedding anniversary or… [Laughs] Which 1-1-2, or 11-2. Those numbers in that order. That's my wedding anniversary and it's also my best friend's birthday so...

13:29 Aj: Those are such sweet answers.

13:31 Jordan: Thank you, I’ve never been asked that. Well, we could definitely talk a lot. [Laughs] (Aj: Oh yeah) But let’s keep this short, really just as a way since it is the end of the semester, we kind of wanted to just give a little bit of insight behind the scenes of what it's been like, and to thank the listeners for tuning in. It's been fun tracking the usage and the listen rates of it and watching it grow through the different apps. I check it each day and I get to check which episode has had the most listens and growing over time. I love numbers like that, so that's also been something I've enjoyed but it wouldn't be possible without people actually listening. So, thank you to our listeners. We are The Well, the Office of Health Promotion and Well-Being. You can find our office on the first floor of the Student Success Center next to the pharmacy, but always check out our website online at jmu.edu/healthcenter/thewell. There you can learn more about all of our programs and services like the 21st Birthday Program or Safer Sex Supplies online ordering. You can make an appointment for Reflections, or Sexual Health Coaching, or just learn more about how to get involved as a student with our Well Peers. You can also easily learn more about us by following us on Instagram @JMUWellDukes, and our email is welldukes@jmu.edu. If you've got questions about this podcast, or you want questions answered on this podcast, ideas, you want to be featured on it - hit us up! We'd love to hear back from students, get some student input. So continue to check out new episodes next semester, every Wednesday. We're not stopping. We're coming back with some great episodes. We're going to continue talking about sex and relationships, prescription drugs, eating disorders and body image, mental health, and so much more. Have a restful break. Aj, do you want to say anything else to our listeners?

15:36 Aj: I’d just like to reiterate that we're so appreciative that you all listen, hopefully every week, because it's really a joy to make this podcast and so we're happy that people are out there and enjoying it, even in other countries.

15:52 Jordan: Yeah! Yes, we have gone international. So, have a great break. And remember, be well, Dukes.