Amanda's Career Goals and Reflection over 1st half of DI

Half Way There!

It is amazing for me to think that one year ago at this time I was putting my dietetic internship application packets together, not even sure which internships I was going to apply to.  Now I am five months into my internship, with only five months to go until I am eligible to sit for the RD exam.  The internship so far has challenged me and prepared me for a career as a dietitian in ways far beyond what I learned in the classroom.

One of the best things I have learned thus far is that I am certain that pursuing a career in school food service is the path I want to take.  The rising need for dietitians in schools and the regulatory changes facing school nutrition programs are two reasons why this career path appeals to me.  Here are a few of the benefits that working as a dietitian in a school nutrition program offers: 

• You get to work with kids!  There were so many people in my college classes who were interested in pursuing a career as a pediatric dietitian.  Rather than working with kids who are already sick, school dietitians can work with kids proactively by promoting nutrition education and nutrition integrity in the meals offered in school. 

• The variety of positions available to dietitians.  As a dietitian you can get a job as a nutrition educator, a manager of school kitchen, an area supervisor for a district or the director of food service for an entire school district.  No two school districts are alike so you can also have a variety of options in the type of school food service program you would like to work in.

• Opportunities for career advancement.  Depending on where your strengths and career goals lie, school nutrition programs can offer many opportunities for professional growth.  This is especially true if you are interested in nutrition management and business.

• Great work schedule.  Depending on the position, school dietitians may get the summer months off and for sure the holidays as wells as most weekends (nutrition conferences may take up a weekend day or two). 

If you are interested in a career as a school dietitian or would like to know more about why I think it is such an exciting career path, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have!  I hope finals are wrapping up well and that the holiday break brings some much needed time for rejuvenation and relaxation.  

Tips for Giving Presentations

Presenting my first case study

My second week of my nutrition education was one of the busiest yet!  I enjoyed teaching nutrition education classes to kids in kindergarten and first and second graders.  I also conducted a needs assessment for all the grades at the elementary school where I will be holding a nutrition campaign in January.

On top of my regular rotation assignments I had my first case study presentation to give this week.  Usually the interns can choose which case study they want to present, but I have only written one case study, a cardiology case study, thus far so that was the subject of my presentation.  Here are a few tips that I use when preparing for and giving presentations:

• Tailor the presentation to your audience.  For this week’s presentation, my audience was mainly dietetic interns and dietitians at my internship.  When you are presenting to an audience of people who work in your field of study you are free to use more technical dialect.  If I were presenting to an audience of the general population I would make sure to use less technical terms such as “the body’s iron stores” instead of “hemoglobin and hematocrit levels.”

• Dress to impress.  Not only does dressing professionally increase your credibility with your audience but it can also increase your confidence in yourself.  I recommend investing in a nice classic suit and to not wear distracting accessories (no feathered headbands, chunky necklaces etc.). 

•  Make handouts.  At the very least just make copies of your presentation slides in notes format so your audience has something to jot their thoughts onto.  If you have a critique sheet, staple it to the back of your handout.  Having a handout will really show them that you thought ahead and are prepared for your presentation. 

• Keep track of time.  Keeping within the allotted time can be a challenge, especially if you tend to talk fast when nervous.  I like to estimate approximately one minute per slide of my presentation.  I also prepare slides that I can elaborate on if I need to extend my presentation time.  Be careful not to go over time as well.  Speeding through the last, and often most important slides of the presentation does not leave a good final impression on your audience.   

• Smile and speak confidently.  Most people experience some level of nervousness before a big presentation.  Even if you are nervous, if you speak with confidence and smile, your audience will never know!

 By: Amanda Bot

Looking back on my first semester of graduate school...

Wow, this semester flew by! My first semester with graduate school has definitely been an overall positive experience, and I am very excited for next semester as well!

Here are some things to recap about my semester:

•  Moving to a completely new place, thousands of miles from home was emotionally challenging. Socially, it always takes some time to make friends; however being in a master’s program, I found that many people in the department were in the same situation as I was in. Additionally, most people in my department are very similar as we share common interests and passions for nutrition and health; friendships formed quickly.

• The first month was academically challenging, as any semester can be, to get to know my professors and let them get to know me. I had to put myself out there and network with teachers and the department as I had no connections like I did in undergraduate.

• Although I became acquainted with classes and the school, I was challenged mentally throughout the entirety of the semester. I feel as if my first semester of graduate school nearly doubled everything that I learned in my entire 4 years of undergraduate! The pace of learning was fast, but efficient. I feel very satisfied with my decision to go to graduate school. I wouldn't have wanted to enter the workforce without the knowledge that I have now.

Please leave a comment if you have any more questions about my graduate school experience. Now it’s back to studying for me; finals week is just a few days away! And as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, grad school requires studying non-stop … 

By: Lindsey Pfau 

Touching the Lives of Children through Nutrition Education

1^st Week of Nutrition Education

One of the best parts of this rotation is being able to touch the lives of children through classroom lessons.  I had the opportunity this past week to work with kids in 2^nd grade and kindergarten at a couple different schools throughout the district.  Reaching kids through nutrition education is one of the reasons I am so interested in a career in school food service.  It is at this age that nutrition education can make a critical impact in inspiring kids to live a healthy lifestyle and eat a nutritious diet.  Here are a couple activities that we held with the children:

With the second grade class we held a “tasting party.”  This was the third lesson with the nutrition educator that they have had this year.  Foods that each child was given to sample included cucumbers, yellow squash, broccoli, grapes and a whole grain cracker.  The kids were given a survey to document how much they liked each food they tried which they could then bring home to their parents.  Most of the kids liked all the fresh foods that they tried and many of them said they had eaten something that they never had tried before!

We focused on MyPlate and the food groups with the kindergarten class.  This group was so enthusiastic to learn and answer questions.  After discussing all the food groups the kids were given paper plates and crayons so they could draw their own healthy plate.  Here is a picture of the finished plates that were hung in the windows outside the school cafeteria for everyone to see:

This coming week will also be filled with nutrition education lessons.  I will also be busy devising a proposal for the school wide nutrition campaign that will take place in January.  It will be a busy week!