This past Saturday morning, a handful of Rowan alumni and students came together for The Office of Alumni Engagement’s 6th annual “Poses with Profs” event. 

Gina Lemanowicz Pusloski, a 2003 Rowan graduate from The College of Communication and Creative Arts (CCCA), led the small group through a series of yoga poses and calming breaths on Bunce Green. 

“Breathe in. Breathe out,” Lemanowicz Pusloski said, encouraging everyone to take in the cool morning air. 

For about 45 minutes, participants were guided through different stretches and positions from downward dog to child’s pose. Eventually, the class ended as Lemanowicz Pusloski bowed her head, thanked the group for coming, and of course closed with “Namaste.”

Lemanowicz Pusloski has been a certified yoga instructor since 2018 and teaches at UpCycle Fitness in Collingswood. She is also the President of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and is very involved with alumni engagement.

“We’re all really stressed out and we don’t take enough time for ourselves just to take an hour to a half hour to collect our thoughts and just be on our mats and move. I thought that this is a great way to just bring some mental health and physical activity to the Rowan alumni,” said Pusloski. 

Despite the colder than normal weather, just 57 degrees, and an interruption caused by the fire alarm in Bunce Hall, participants walked away from the class feeling refreshed and relaxed. 

“I thought it was great. The weather is perfect for yoga, it was relaxing to hear the leaves rustling in the trees,” said Charles Pusloski, husband and fellow Rowan alumni, “And I think it’s great to see how life sometimes gets in the way, with the fire alarm and activity around us, that’s life, right? You have to learn how to block that out and sort of focus internally.”

“Poses with Profs” is typically held in the summer but was moved to align with Rowan’s family weekend in hopes of a larger turnout than has been recently seen. According to Carly Samuels, assistant director of alumni engagement, the Covid-19 pandemic had caused a drop in turnout at alumni engagement events. Fortunately, the turnout is beginning to rise again.

Events like this can be great opportunities for students and alumni alike. For students, it’s a chance to build connections that may lead to jobs or internships. For alumni, it is a way to give back to the Rowan community, network and also participate in fun activities. 

“Part of our mission is to help establish connections between students and alumni… we want to make sure that students are getting that information and access to those relationships and networking as soon as they can,” said Samuels.

Poses with Profs provided a calm and relaxing atmosphere to establish and grow those relationships.

“It’s great to bring the students and the alumni together in events like this because even just informal networking and chatting with each other in a group setting, you never know who you might meet or what opportunities they may be able to offer you,” Lemanowicz Pusloski said.

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