To all my Buckeye ladies out there, if there’s one club on campus you need to know about, it’s CHAARG. Although Elisabeth Tavierne and Emily Richard founded CHAARG (Changing Health, Attitudes, and Actions to Recreate Girls) just one year ago, it has already been a huge success. For this week’s Campus Celebrity, we met up with Elisabeth to talk about the growing success of CHAARG and to share some of the co-founder’s own fitness tips!
Name: Elisabeth Tavierne
Year: Senior
Hometown: St. Charles, IL
Major: Exercise Science
Involvement on Campus: Co-President and Co-Founder of CHAARG
HC: What is CHAARG and what inspired you to start it?
ET: It all started junior year at the Ohio State Student Involvement Fair. There were all sorts of clubs at the fair, ranging from the Pokémon Club to the Bread Baking Club, but there was absolutely nothing related to women’s health and fitness. Emily, the co-founder, and I decided to start CHAARG to change the mentality that girls have about fitness. We wanted to liberate girls from the elliptical and show them that there are so many different ways to exercise that can actually be FUN (who would have thought!).
HC: How can students get involved in CHAARG?
ET: To become a member of CHAARG you have to sign a contract, hand in a membership fee and be a woman—no fitness experience necessary. We meet weekly on Wednesdays and Fridays, and bring in a health/fitness specialist from around the Columbus area to lead us in a workout. We’ve done everything from pure barre to boxing to salsa dancing and everything in between.
HC: What tips do you have for girls who have trouble finding time to work out?
ET: Make time. I know it’s hard. We are all busy college students, but if you truly want to live a healthier lifestyle you have to find time to make it to the gym. You’re the only one that can make that happen. Your mom isn’t going to be waking you up in the morning for high school practice and you don’t have a team counting on you to be there—you just have yourself. The only person who is holding you accountable in the end is you. Make promises to yourself and keep them.
HC: What keeps you motivated to eat healthy and exercise?
ET: I have been involved in sports all my life, so exercising is second nature to me. Eating healthy, on the other hand, is something I am still trying to work on. Being an athlete, I never took the time to monitor what I ate since I was burning so many calories. I had the mindset of, “Who cares what I eat; this is the only time I can truly eat whatever I want and not get fat.” I know, terrible mindset. After hanging up my towel (I was a competitive swimmer for over 12 years), I have thrown that mindset away, and I am working on my nutrition. I feel as if nutrition is always overlooked, while exercising is pushed. The truth is nutrition is key. I am still experimenting with my nutrition and figuring out what works for me. I absolutely love cooking and trying out new restaurants.
HC: Aside from working out, what do you like to do in your spare time?
ET: EAT! I’m a huge foodie; I love exploring the streets of Columbus, searching for new restaurants to try. I’m the friend everyone goes to for restaurant recommendations. Other things I love are coffee dates with friends (Luck Bros is my fave), photography (although I have a high-tech camera, the iPhone always does the job) and TRAVELING (I will travel the world!).
HC: Do you plan on continuing CHAARG even after you leave Ohio State?
ET: I can’t tell you much right now, but keep your eye on CHAARG—big things will be happening!
HC: What’s your favorite OSU memory?
ET: That’s so hard! I have had an interesting, yet incredible, four years. If someone told me that as a freshman attending Ohio State as a recruited swimmer, I would be a “normie” (what we called non-athletes) who started an organization that grew to over 250 members in six months, I wouldn’t have believed it. I think one of my favorite memories is the fact that I met my best friends and roommates—one of them is Emily, who started CHAARG with me—through sorority recruitment. We laugh about it today because we aren’t your typical sorority girls (whatever that means), but if it wasn’t for rush, we never would have met each other!
HC: Do you guys have a CHAARG Twitter account?
ET: Yes! @_CHAARG follow us! We also have a Facebook page and a blog http://chaarg.wordpress.com/.