A brief look into Bonnie Kestner, and her impact at Sweet Briar College.
Bonnie Kestner is the former Head Coach, current Lead Assistant Swim Coach, and she also teaches classes in nutrition at Sweet Briar College. She comes from an impressive background, having swum for Yale’s swim team in college and then coaching there, before accepting the position at Sweet Briar. She has now been part of the SBC faculty for 33 years, and has continued swimming competitively.
Bonnie is an extremely warm and kind person, who cares very much for her students and athletes. A former swimmer, Laura Wolf notes, “Not only is she an excellent swim coach, but she’s an amazing mentor. You may not see her very much, but she always makes herself available.” When asked to describe her as a coach, Laura said, “She is encouraging in so many aspects… she’s supportive, and inspiring. She has endurance not only in the pool, but also on the side when everyone’s cheering you on… she will cheer you on through a whole race—all the way to the end of the pool. She’ll stick with you and track your growth from start to finish.”
Bonnie is also inspiring and dedicated out of the pool—she loves to teach at Sweet Briar as well. A past student, Jodie Stevenson described her as a professor. In her class, Nutritional Challenges of the 21st Century, Jodie said that Bonnie “was committed to get us to realize the challenges we face, in terms of how we can change our nutritional path, or lifestyle.” It is obvious that Bonnie cares about other people, but she also cares very much about the Sweet Briar community in general. She believes so strongly in the natural and holistic wellness, that she is willing to work hard for these resources to be available to the community.
After a friend’s son was diagnosed with many serious health issues, including diabetes, Bonnie began researching alternative health methods with the hopes of helping the young man. However, her findings affected her the most. Growing quite interested in holistic wellness, Bonnie started to make some changes to her lifestyle. “[Holistic wellness] looks at all dimensions of a person”, she describes. It is essentially a practice or lifestyle in which one believes that the body, mind, and spirit must all work together as one.
Bonnie’s hope is to one day have a holistic wellness center available as a resource to students and faculty that are interested in practicing or learning more about a holistic lifestyle. Progress toward that goal is being made: Bonnie will be teaching a holistic wellness and exercise class in the fall of 2010.
Bonnie is an extremely warm and kind person, who cares very much for her students and athletes. A former swimmer, Laura Wolf notes, “Not only is she an excellent swim coach, but she’s an amazing mentor. You may not see her very much, but she always makes herself available.” When asked to describe her as a coach, Laura said, “She is encouraging in so many aspects… she’s supportive, and inspiring. She has endurance not only in the pool, but also on the side when everyone’s cheering you on… she will cheer you on through a whole race—all the way to the end of the pool. She’ll stick with you and track your growth from start to finish.”
Bonnie is also inspiring and dedicated out of the pool—she loves to teach at Sweet Briar as well. A past student, Jodie Stevenson described her as a professor. In her class, Nutritional Challenges of the 21st Century, Jodie said that Bonnie “was committed to get us to realize the challenges we face, in terms of how we can change our nutritional path, or lifestyle.” It is obvious that Bonnie cares about other people, but she also cares very much about the Sweet Briar community in general. She believes so strongly in the natural and holistic wellness, that she is willing to work hard for these resources to be available to the community.
After a friend’s son was diagnosed with many serious health issues, including diabetes, Bonnie began researching alternative health methods with the hopes of helping the young man. However, her findings affected her the most. Growing quite interested in holistic wellness, Bonnie started to make some changes to her lifestyle. “[Holistic wellness] looks at all dimensions of a person”, she describes. It is essentially a practice or lifestyle in which one believes that the body, mind, and spirit must all work together as one.
Bonnie’s hope is to one day have a holistic wellness center available as a resource to students and faculty that are interested in practicing or learning more about a holistic lifestyle. Progress toward that goal is being made: Bonnie will be teaching a holistic wellness and exercise class in the fall of 2010.
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