Meet: Jennie Rivera Visitacion!
This quarter, the Neurosurgery Wellness Committee is pleased to spotlight Jennie Rivera
Visitacion, Lab Services Manager for the NeuroTraIn Center! Jennie recently celebrated 20
years at Stanford and shared how movement, faith, family, community, food, music, and new
adventures shape her approach to wellness.
Quick Facts About Jennie:
What is your role at Stanford Neurosurgery?
Jennie is the Lab Services Manager for Dr. Juan Fernandez-Miranda’s NeuroTraIn Center,
overseeing anatomy laboratory operations, specimen management, educational programs,
research initiatives, and hands-on surgical training courses. She has worked with Dr. JFM since
December 2018, previously serving as an Administrative Associate before transitioning into her
current role.
How long have you been at Stanford?
Jennie celebrated 20 years at Stanford in April!
What is your favorite way to unwind?
Walking and exploring around San Francisco or finding a new activity to try.
What is your dream vacation?
Traveling the Camino de Santiago in Spain, a network of historic pilgrimage routes leading to
Santiago de Compostela and the Cathedral of St. James. Depending on the route, the journey
can take days or even months, making it the ultimate walking adventure.
What are your favorite restaurants?
Din Tai Fung, Jollibee, and Ohgane Korean BBQ
A Conversation on Wellness:
What does wellness mean to you?
“Wellness means finding balance through fitness, faith, family, fun, and food.”
For Jennie, wellness means caring for her physical, mental, and spiritual well-being while
making time for family, community, and the things that bring her joy.
Movement is a major part of that balance. Jennie was a former marathon runner more than 10
years ago and walking has helped bring movement back into her everyday routine. Participating
in department walking step challenges the past two years encouraged her to pay more attention
to her daily steps and helped make walking a consistent part of her lifestyle.
Today, Jennie enjoys walking, running, and finding creative ways to stay active and also rides
her scooter around campus for errands and mass at Stanford Memorial Church. She recently participated in the BTS 5K in Foster City and is always looking for new ways to make movement fun.
She has several adventures on the calendar, including the Nike Women’s After Dark Tour Los
Angeles Half Marathon in October and the Manila 10K in November. December brings her
annual favorites—the Honolulu 10K and the Hello Kitty 5K at Lake Elizabeth in Fremont. In
February, she’ll combine her love of music, travel, and adventure with a trip to Australia for a
BTS concert.
Music and dancing are another way Jennie keeps wellness fun. She is currently trying line
dancing and also enjoys Extreme Hip Hop with Tamasamoa Step for Soulful Sundays at the
Brooklyn Basin in Oakland.
For Jennie, wellness is also about being active together as a family. Whether supporting her son
at basketball games, fishing, getting outside, traveling, or simply spending time together, she
believes that staying connected is an important part of a healthy life.
“It’s also good to support your child and what they love to do.”
Her family’s active lifestyle gives them opportunities to encourage one another, spend quality
time together, and celebrate each other’s interests.
How do you intentionally recharge after a busy week?
Jennie builds opportunities to recharge into her routine through walking, running, and
experiencing new places.
She recently started taking Caltrain to San Francisco and exploring the city on foot. Her monthly
goal is to walk from the Caltrain station along the Embarcadero, across the Golden Gate Bridge,
and back, a remarkable 18.5 miles and more than 53,000 steps!
She also stumbled upon the Salesforce HQ rooftop garden, a hidden gem accessible by
elevator, escalator, or even gondola, offering free fitness classes, music, and other community
activities.
Next, she plans to take on the San Francisco Golden Gate Dozen, a 13-mile route connecting
12 iconic national park sites from Crissy Field to Fort Funston.
For Jennie, movement is a way to recharge while wandering through new neighborhoods,
enjoying a snack, and embracing the journey, without rushing.
What healthy habit has had the biggest positive impact on your life?
“Definitely praying the Rosary daily while walking.”
For Jennie, praying the Rosary daily while walking is the key bringing together faith, movement,
reflection, and exploration. Whether walking with her husband, exploring San Francisco, or
discovering a new neighborhood or destination, she enjoys making her walks an opportunity to
pray, stay active, and be present in the moment.
Wellness Through Giving Back
For the past three years, Jennie has made blood donation part of her regular wellness routine,
donating approximately every eight weeks.
Her first donation came unexpectedly during an early-morning AV walkthrough in Assembly
Hall, testing the live operating-room broadcast for the annual Endoscopic Endonasal Skull Base
Course. After the meeting, the room completely transformed and it had become a Stanford
Blood Center blood drive!
What started as an unexpected opportunity quickly became a meaningful routine. The kindness
of the blood center staff encouraged Jennie to continue donating regularly and it only takes less
than five minutes to help save the lives of others.
Jennie laughingly admits, she enjoys AYCE Korean barbecue and orders her favorite beef kalbi
and brisket before donating blood for adequate iron needed.
Wellness Is an Adventure
Jennie’s approach to wellness is a reminder that healthy living does not have to look the same
for everyone. It can be a daily walk with someone you love, cheering on your family, trying a
new dance, enjoying music, exploring a new city, training for a race, practicing your faith, giving
back through blood donation, or setting a new goal that gives you something exciting to look
forward to.
For Jennie, wellness is about fitness, faith, family, food, and fun and continuing to find new
adventures along the way, whether that means a neighborhood walk with her husband, a 5K
with fellow BTS fans, supporting her son at a basketball game, discovering a new restaurant, or
traveling halfway around the world for a concert.
If you would like to be featured in a future Staff Wellness Spotlight, please reach out to Shanna, Alison, Hurjane, or Stephanie. We would love to highlight how you practice wellness in and outside of work!
Written by: Shanna Selsor