Meet Serene Issa, a Community Developer at Owaves! Serene will be a senior at the University of California, San Diego this fall and is studying Cognitive Behavioral Neuroscience. She has lived in a few different places growing up, being born in Arizona and then moving across the world to Abu Dhabi, UAE where she spent the rest of her childhood. She moved a third time to San Diego for college, and her parents now live in New York City. Her worldly upbringing sparked her interest in learning about different cultures and understanding human behavior, which she now studies in school!
Location
New York
What’s your personal motto?
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ~CS Lewis
What’s your favorite vegetable?
Tomatoes
What’s your favorite exercise?
HIIT Workouts (I use the Sweat app!)
What’s your favorite way to relax?
Read a book, watch TV, or spend time with loved ones
What’s your favorite book?
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
What’s your favorite YouTube video?
My favorite YouTube videos are any fitness workout videos by Chloe Ting or commentary videos by Cody Ko and Noel Miller.
Serene’s daily routine:
- 8:00 AM – Wake up
- 8:30 AM – Have Coffee
- 9:00 AM – Work out
- 10:30 AM – Breakfast
- 11:30 AM – Work
- 2:00 PM – Lunch
- 5:00 PM – Read and unwind
- 6:30 PM – Dinner
- 8:30 PM – TV with family
- 10:00 PM – Sleep
Maintaining a Healthy Mind and Body at Home
Serene is passionate about maintaining a healthy relationship with her body and mind, which has proven to be especially hard during COVID. While at home, Serene has created a daily routine to improve her health and wellness and maximize productivity in her day. She is an early bird and likes to wake up and work out before starting the rest of her day. She loves exercising to keep her mind clear and to make her feel strong and empowered, preparing her for the day ahead! Serene places an emphasis on maintaining connections with family and other loved ones during this time as a means of support. She likes to use the Owaves app to plan time to work out, journal, go to therapy, and get all of her work done. Planning her day also helps her feel more in control during the week!