The University of Central Florida is encouraging students to "armor up" against coronavirus and they’ve hired a team of student ambassadors to help.
The ‘Armor Up Ambassadors’ are a group of 24 students who walk around campus to ensure that everyone is wearing masks, staying physically distanced and to see if they completed the UCF COVID Self-Checker.
Aishwarya Joshi is one of the ambassadors. When she saw an ad for the program, she jumped at the opportunity to do something.
“I was so excited when I saw this ad, when they put it up on the post.” Joshi said. “I have a healthcare background and during this COVID time I felt so useless not doing anything. When I saw this, I was pretty excited, I was hoping I can get into it and I’m so glad.”
Maureen Hawkins, the director of UCF’s Wellness & Health Promotion Services, said her team interviewed students by zoom before selecting the ambassadors.
"We wanted to see what would motivate you to want to help people be healthier and make a behavior change, all of those things," said Hawkins.
The ambassadors’ goal is to make everyone feel more confident about their health and make sure they are following the guidelines.
Ambassadors like Joshi hand out rewards including stickers, sunglasses and hand sanitizers to students who wear their face masks and complete the self checker.
The university says it plans to hire up to 60 student ambassadors as the semester goes on.