Theresa Ortega began her connection to fitness as a kid playing soccer and swimming in the Olympic pools at Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas, Venezuela. She became interested in the martial arts and attained a First Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. During that time, she also opened a martial arts supply and equipment retail store, Kamikaze Karate. In the early 2000s she was in the first group of certified instructors at the local Terre Haute YMCA to teach a fun new class called BodyPump. As a staffer at Indiana State University’s Campus Recreation since 2006, Theresa now manages marketing, communications, web, digital media and the pro shop. Her Bachelor of Science in Psychology is from Indiana State University. She has served as a conference committee member for IHRSA, and served as a speaker/presenter at both IHRSA and NIRSA conferences and Midwest FitFest, often speaking about handwriting analysis and its connection to health. Theresa is a connector in the rec center, reaching out to new members to encourage them to get started, and reminding current members of why they started in the first place; but mostly reminding all of the fun they can have making lifetime fitness their own. Theresa can be reached at tortega@indstate.edu.