It was a pleasure connecting with Samantha Haravitsidis ’18 last week. A motivated and driven alum who wasn’t going to let a pandemic squash her determination. Sam, a 2nd year physio student at Latrobe is a fitness and health fanatic. She always knew she wanted to do something in the Health industry, initially thinking it would be in Nursing. However, whilst looking at courses it was the Allied Health industry that sparked an interest. Her love for sport and the fitness industry was definitely a contributing factor. “I participated in Aerobic Gymnastics for eight years, performing competitively throughout that time. Representing Victoria on many occasions, a career highlight was in 2018, individually coming first at the 2018 Australian National Championships. So, sport and fitness has always been a big part of my life”. Although, no longer in the circuit and competing Sam continues to coach not only aerobics but also Touch Football and is a Personal Trainer. With her love for fitness and balancing her study commitments Sam decided to start Fitness Classes online during lockdown. She called them “Sunday Sessions” a way she could help people keep active, look after their mental health and ‘get out on a Sunday and exercise’. ‘I wanted the sessions to be accessible to everyone during this time. I knew I would need to tailor the sessions to all fitness levels and also use body weight exercises. Not all participants would have access to equipment’ Sam said. The 45 minute Zoom workouts became so popular Sam has written an E-Book that she is distributing for FREE for the month of October. Her philosophy is to promote a holistic and realistic approach to living a healthy lifestyle with no drastic diets but to “keep it real”. To get a copy of ‘The Sam Series Ebook’ contact sam through her instagram account @the.samseries or email thesamseries1@gmail.com
