Why Staying Active and Connected Matters in Your 20s: My Verse One Podcast Episode

dinadaiuto
Apr 15
3 min read

For this project, I created a podcast episode focused on why staying physically active and socially connected is so important during your college years, especially at a large school like Rutgers. I gave the episode a conversational and storytelling style, so it feels more relatable and less like a formal lecture or like I'm forcefully trying to sell anyone the idea of joining the Verse One Organization.

In the podcast, I talk about and relate to how easy it is to fall into routines where you’re focused on school, work, and responsibilities, but not really thinking about your overall well-being. College can get overwhelming quickly, and when that happens, things like movement, self-care, and social interaction are usually the first to be pushed aside. A lot of students end up spending most of their time sitting in class, doing work, or staying in their own routines without realizing how disconnected they might feel.

To support this, I also included research from the CDC that shows how physical activity can help reduce stress and improve mental health, while social connection plays a major role in feeling supported and maintaining overall well-being. These ideas helped shape the main message of my episode, which is that both movement and connection are essential, not optional.

I then connect these ideas to Verse One, a hip-hop dance team at Rutgers that creates a welcoming and inclusive environment for students. Through weekly practices, guest teachers, and campus events, Verse One gives students a way to stay active while also meeting people and being part of something consistent. I also included a 30-second PSA in the episode that promotes Verse One and encourages students to get involved.

Recording & Editing Audio:

To actually create the podcast, I used Audacity to record and edit my audio. After recording my script, I went back and trimmed out any long pauses or mistakes to make everything sound smoother and more natural. I also made sure to edit out any time the audio picked up background noises or the sound of me pressing the trackpad on my laptop. I also adjusted the volume levels so my voice was clear and consistent throughout the episode and made sure the music stayed lower than my voice so it wasn’t distracting. In addition, I added background music to the intro, PSA transition, and conclusion, using fade-in and fade-out effects to make the transitions feel more professional.

This was my second experience ever using Audacity and after the initial frustration that always naturally comes along with learning a new software, I actually really enjoyed how precise the tools were. I liked being able to split clips and move tracks exactly how I wanted to and I really enjoyed figuring out how to apply the effects whether it was fading-in/fading-out or amplifying or layering audio tracks. This project also allowed me to get more comfortable with importing and exporting audio correctly. The biggest learning curve for me was figuring out how to smoothly add in background music. Overall I'm really glad I got to learn how to make sure how to correctly use audio (background music) that isn’t my own and give proper credit through Creative Commons licensing, which is something I’ll definitely carry into future projects.

Learn more about Verse One:

https://rutgers.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/VerseOne

Verse One's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/verseonedt

Episode Link:

https://on.soundcloud.com/7usBqOl6uo8wcE4e4T

My episode is meant to be both informative and relatable for college students. It shows how students can improve their college experience in a realistic way, specifically those at Rutgers by joining groups such as Verse One.

The goal is to not only explain why these things matter, but also encourage students to actually think about how they can get more involved and find something that works for them.

Group Podcast Series:

This podcast is part of a group series where we all focused on Verse One but approached it from different angles. Each person created their own episode, so even though we’re all talking about the same organization, the content is different. My episode focuses more on the lifestyle side—how being active and social actually impacts your well-being.