Rubini K

Karalis is a 19-year-old student who attends COD with the hopes of becoming a veterinarian. Being a nominee for the honors society is something that she worked hard for, getting good grades and being acknowledged for them motivates her to work harder. In life, one must work hard in order to get by. She would work as a babysitter from the age of 12, to grow into a 15-year-old with a career as a preschool aid. She then began working her way up to the teacher's assistant. Now at 19, she holds two steady jobs and goes to school full-time. Any dream can be achieved if you put your mind to it and work hard. _{All about Me:}

I am a hard worker and I never take the easy way out. I work two jobs and go to school at the same time. In my free time I love to draw, listen to music, and read a good book. I also have an obsession with tattoos and weirdly enough documentaries on serial killers. I secretly always wanted to be a detective but seeing as to how that could be a dangerous job and put your family at risk I decided to take a quick detour away from that idea and pursue a career in veterinary science. You can say my love for animals sparked at a young age as I was raised in a household with a dog and cat all my life. The dog and a cat then turned to a few dozen goldfish, three mice, three birds, and a frog (all that either passed away with time or taken back due to allergy reasons). Now I can say we live comfortably in a house that is surrounded by two loving dogs and a nice plump black cat.

• Netflix
• Documentaries
• Tattoo
• Drawings
• Piano
• Animals
• Books
• Sunflowers

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” - The Great Gatsby

Exercise, Health, and Diet. Oh My! By: Rubini Karalis When thinking of exercise the thought of running or lifting weights comes to mind. When thinking of the benefits of exercise many may picture muscle or less fat. When thinking of health one may assume doctors are referring to those who are skinny, eat salads day and night, and workout non stop. However what people lack the knowledge of is that exercise benefits and improves the brain functions, mental health (anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, etc.), along with increasing survival rates. Now when it comes down to health, one must realize it is more than one's physique but rather the inside and out. Health includes diet, sleep, and exercise. All of these things put together can outweigh the tragedy that is set in place due to one's lifestyle, whether it be cancer, suicidal thoughts, heart disease, or even dementia. To begin one must know what exercise is and the different forms. Exercise comes down to the main three forms which are aerobic, anaerobic, and flexibility. Taken from an article from wikipedia titled, Exercise, it states that “Aerobic exercise is any physical activity that uses large muscle groups and causes the body to use more oxygen than it would while resting.” What many fail to realize is that aerobic exercise target is to increase cardiovascular endurance. Some exercises would be running, swimming, jump rope, dancing, etc. The article also states that “Anaerobic exercise, which includes strength and resistance training, can firm, strengthen, and increase muscle mass, as well as improve bone density, balance, and coordination.” Some examples of this form of exercise would be pull-ups, lunges, squats, etc. It also can include weight training, sprinting, and high intensity interval training. Lastly “Flexibility exercises stretch and lengthen muscles.” Some examples would be yoga and stretching. Flexibility has a main goal of improving the range of motion as it lessens the chances of injury. The importance of exercise on the human mind is vast. It can come down to improving cognitive skills, decreasing chances of dementia along with reducing damage and deterioration of the brain tissue. According to Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health, their article titled, Exercise and Mental Health, states that, “Many experts believe that maintaining physical fitness can help keep blood flowing normally to brain tissue, which can reduce the risk of damage or deterioration.” Blood flow is very important when it comes to keeping the brain young and healthy. The article further states, “ Animal and human studies have also shown that aerobic exercise stimulates the release of growth hormones that may also improve brain function.” When getting to a certain age it is prone that one exercises regularly to keep the brain strong and well functioning, rather than deteriorating.

Mental health has increased over the years all around the world. People are struggling with severe depression, anxiety disorders, etc. Many are given drugs and think that will solve all of their problems. However, the rates are still up there and many even state that the drugs wear off and they need higher prescriptions. What they don’t know is that exercise is considered a treatment. According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health, in an article titled, Exercise and Mental Health, they state that, “Research and clinical experience indicate that exercise can be an effective treatment for more serious mental disorders, including severe depression, anxiety disorders, substance dependence, and even schizophrenia”. The authors continue to explain that the reason exercise is considered a treatment is because it can be a distraction which allows the mind to break the cycles of negative thinking, which causes a spike in one's anxiety. Along with it being a distraction it also, “can improve self-esteem and self-confidence through a sense of achievement and improved body image and by encouraging social interaction.” Those with these mental health issues also have low self esteem which can cause them to lack interaction with other people. Exercising increases self confidence and can help them better interact with others. The article also stated that, “[e]xercise may relieve muscle tension, burn off stress hormones, and increase blood flow to the brain.[...] Exercise also increases body temperature, which may have a calming effect.” Those with severe depression or anxiety develop intense discomfort but when warm they feel safe and secure, which is why when their body temperature increases it lets them calm down, along with releasing their stress. Health is more than just eating a salad and getting your daily steps, health is what keeps the body moving throughout the day without feeling sluggish or out of breath. The importance of a healthy meal is that it gives our bodies the nutrients it needs to grow and function properly. In order to have strong bones, muscle, tendons, and regulate blood pressure one must eat the nutrients that help build up those things. According to a Wikipedia article titled, Health, “Water is essential for growth, reproduction and good health,” along with water, “Macronutrients are consumed in relatively large quantities and include proteins, carbohydrates, and fats and fatty acids. Micronutrients – Vitamins and minerals – are consumed in relatively smaller quantities, but are essential to body processes.” What we put into our body is how we will feel if one eats Mcdonald's every day they will feel tired, greasy, and fat whereas if one eats an apple they will feel refreshed, energized, and healthy. The same article continued on with the effects of sleep. Sleep is more than just not feeling tired the next day, it allows our bodies to grow, fight illness, and regulate metabolism. The article states that, “In one study, people with chronic insufficient sleep, set as six hours of sleep a night or less, were found to be four times more likely to catch a cold compared to those who reported sleeping for seven hours or more a night.” When one is sick doctors recommend lots of sleep which is why one should take it as a serious matter. Along with fighting illnesses it also lets muscles rebuild after a good workout. Exercise increases the chances of surviving cancer. As the Physical Exercise and Cancer: Exploring Chemotherapy Infusion as an Opportunity for Movement,Seminars in Oncology Nursing,Volume 36, Issue 5 states, “Exercise initiated in the early stages of cancer treatment may present as the most opportune time to reduce the detrimental side effects of treatment.” It also explains that the exercising includes the improvement of physical function, along with reducing distress and fatigue. They continue to explain that, “More recently, evidence has suggested that exercise has the potential to improve chemotherapy drug uptake due to the increases in peripheral circulation and changes to tumor vasculature from increases in cardiac output and blood pressure”. Exercise is so much more than just the muscle it benefits brain activity, increases the chance of surviving cancer, and helps with chemo treatment.

References: Alic, M., PhD, Colby, H., PhD, & Cofer, Z. C., PhD. (2019). Exercise and Mental Health. In B. Narins (Ed.), The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health (4th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 630-635). Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2491200191/GVRL?u=cod_lrc&sid=GVRL&xid=af0d306a

“Exercise”.En.Wikipedia.Org, 2021,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise. Accessed 12 Feb 2021

"Health". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health. Accessed 12 Feb 2021.

Macmillan, Amanda. "How Exercise Helps Protect Your Brain From Cognitive Decline". Time, 2021, https://time.com/5162477/exercise-risk-dementia/. Accessed 2 Mar 2021.

Roxanne Miller, Joseph Northey, Kellie Toohey,Physical Exercise and Cancer: Exploring Chemotherapy Infusion as an Opportunity for Movement,Seminars in Oncology Nursing,Volume 36, Issue 5,2020, https://www-sciencedirect-com.cod.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0749208120300838