Jenniferlyn Kryvicky was profiled during her time as a Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine student. She is now an alumna of the program.
Expected Graduation Date: June 2016
Program/Concentration: Master of Science in HNFM
Hometown: Berkley, MI
Prior schooling or work experience: Bachelor of Science in manufacturing engineering from GMI Engineering & Management Institute; MBA from Baker Center for Graduate Studies; IAHC and AADP Certified Health Coach and owner of Shine Total Health and Wellness.
Jenniferlyn started out in engineering and quality control but now she’s pursuing her passion in the health and wellness field. It was after college that she found her way into athletics, first running marathons then triathlons, preferring long course and Ironman distances. Jenniferlyn competed in the 2014 USAT Long Course National Championships where she qualified for a spot on TeamUSA for the 2015 Long Course World Championships.
Her work in athletics along with her own struggle with nutrition and health led Jenniferlyn to become a certified integrative nutrition health coach and find her way to the UWS human nutrition and functional medicine program. She looks forward to returning to Ironman after graduation, as well as competing at the state and national level again.
1. Why did you choose UWS? Why did you choose HNFM? Through my health coaching certification I found other practitioners that I started to follow closely – Dr. Sara Gottfried, Dr. Josh Axe, Dr. Deanna Minich and Andrea Nakayama. It was through Andrea that I learned of UWS and this program and through Dr. Minich that I learned about IFM.
2. What has been your favorite class/instructor? While each class offers something to take away and apply, two classes have been revolutionary in influencing the way that I think: Sports Nutrition with Dr. Tony Santo because he pushes you beyond your comfort zone and really requires you to change your thinking about the physiological processes and how nutrition comes into play. The other class is Fundamentals of Positive Psychology and Mind Body Medicine with Dr. Deanna Minich. She offers a bridge between two things that I am passionate about but which are often conflicted in mainstream care – the spiritual, softer sciences of meditation, yoga, acupuncture, etc., and the more concrete sciences of biology, neurology and physiology. She provided an evidence-based approach that allowed me to expand not only my applicable knowledge but look at my personal health and wellness from a totally new perspective.
3. What has been your experience with learning in HNFM’s online environment? This is my second graduate-level distance program and I really appreciate how connected I feel in my classes and to my cohort. I have made some great friends in this program and feel that there is always a line of communication open with my professors and my classmates. The online discussions are very informative and the lecture formats make me feel like I am in class along with everyone else.
4. What has been the most surprising part of the HNFM program at UWS? I went in knowing that I wanted to further expand my credentials in functional medicine and nutrition, however I did not expect that I would be experiencing such an expansion of knowledge from such an outstanding caliber of professors. I am continually impressed with the level of dynamic education that I am being afforded though this program.
5. What do you hope to do after graduation? In the short term I am adding functional nutrition to my business’s portfolio (Shine Total Health and Wellness) and am planning to sit for my nutritionist license and nutrition specialist certification. I am very interested in both oncological nutrition and autoimmune nutrition therapy and I am considering more detailed research in one of these areas via a Ph.D in the future.
Wild Card: Favorite way to get some stress out from school? Spending time playing with my pugs, cycling with my husband or good old-fashioned running on the trails at my favorite state park.
