Jane Croeker, director of wellness promotion, outside her office in the UND Memorial Union. Photo by Adele Kieger.

Jane Croeker has been the Health & Wellness promotion director at UND for 13 years, and strives to be an example of what health and wellness looks like.

She can be seen promoting her work by commuting to campus and back on her bike.

“I’ve always enjoyed biking, swimming, hiking and things like that,” Croeker said in regard to her healthy lifestyle. “When I actually came to college, I let some things slide, and I was smoking at the time. Then my dad had a heart attack and that was really a wake up call for me.

That motivated me to quit smoking and kind of take more of a look at how I was managing stress and helped me make some changes in my life.”

Croeker has been biking to and from her job on campus — a 3-mile ride from her home — since she started working here in January 2000.

“I mostly bike in the spring, summer and fall, but once we get ice and snow … I have some friends that bike year round,” she said. “They have studded tires and those fat bikes with really wide tires so, I’m looking into that.”

For now, cross country skiing gets Croeker to work in the winter.

The gear

Croeker’s daily commute requires some special equipment.

Her bike features attachments to make it easier for her to travel to and from campus.

“The bike that I ride to work, I have a rack on the back so that I can put these big bags that I use for putting my purse, briefcase, those kind of things in there. I even bungee cord stuff on top,” she said. “I’ve done all sorts of crazy stuff like I once put a Crock-Pot on the back when we had a potluck one day.”

Aside from biking to and from work every day, Croeker enjoys meditating at the Lotus Meditation Center for her spiritual and emotional wellness. She also eats as whole and healthy as she can.

“I believe in moderation and variety,” she said. “I allow myself some chocolate, but I do try to get plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.”

Social wellness is another thing she says is important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Croeker is also a firm believer in not being a consumer that “just buys and throws away whatever.”

According to Croeker, the benefits of eating healthy go beyond physical health.

“In terms of academic success, I feel like we don’t make this association a lot, but what you eat matters in terms of how you’re fueling your body and your brain, how you perform, how much energy and concentration you have. You’ll just feel better overall,” she said.

Being busy may cause students to sacrifice being healthy, she said.

“Health and wellness is something that college students look past because they feel too busy to stop and think about how they’re treating their bodies, and more importantly, minds,” Croeker added. “Think of wellness as a journey, not as a destination.”

Adele Kieger is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].