The road I am on in my education career has not been a clear linear path to say the least. Any family or friend of mine who has been on this journey with me can attest to that.
This year marks my 6th year in college, I have an associates degree in Nutritional Science and am still working on getting my bachelors. I have switched majors three times in the past six years…I am an extremely indecisive person, but when I know what I want I go after it with everything I have.
Before studying nutrition, and people would ask me how school was going, I would tell them I was happy and excited, but never truly felt that way. Being a part of the fitness world since high school, I was always researching the latest nutrition news and updates and teaching myself the basics of nutrition because I found it so interesting and fun. While doing this, though, making nutrition a profession never came to mind. I remember the day I finally realized I wanted to become a Registered Dietitian. I was at work one day, reading more nutrition articles and it just clicked that I wanted to be in the nutrition field…why didn’t I think of this six years earlier?! I immediately called my mom to tell her I finally figured it out. Talking to her about it felt right which made me really excited because for the longest time I felt so lost not doing what I enjoyed.
As of last week, I officially completed three years studying nutrition, and will graduate in May 2021. When I started in 2017, I was pretty ignorant in the sense of thinking this would be an easy major: I already knew the basics of nutrition, what else is there to know? Science. Science is what I need to know OK? Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Biochem, Microbio, Anatomy & Physiology 1 & 2, Food Science, Medical Nutrition Therapy, the list of sciences goes on. I have also learned what happens when you bake muffins and the top comes out cracked, scoop sizes, types of light bulb wattage needed in a storage room for dry materials, why meat is red, how to create a nutrition program for the dietary needs of specific cities, and all of the many parts that go into community nutrition. The list literally goes on forever.
It has all become really overwhelming.
I have my two friends, Jen and Fernanda to thank because without them I really don’t think I could go on. (If you guys are reading this, HI! I love you both). We met our first year in our Nutritional Science program in 2017 and I am extremely grateful our paths have crossed. You meet some of your forever friends in college and they’re stuck with me forever whether they like it or not!!!!
In each of my classes there has come a point where I have felt like I could not continue. I often wondered how I’m supposed to retain all of the information I have learned in order to become the type of dietitian I want to be. But I sit back and think of how rewarding this field is. Not only is it extremely rewarding, but it is a promising field because there are so many routes I can go when looking for a job: clinical, food service, or community nutrition. As of right know I am interested in clinical dietetics; NICU and Renal Dietetics to be specific. But, I know when I start my internship, I will be introduced to so many more fields and I may change my mind.
My why is more than just wanting to help people.
The field of dietetics challenges me. Every single day you learn something new, there are always nutrition myths to debunk, and nutrition information continuously grows and changes. Which makes me excited to be the person to be able to be on top of this and teach the world!!
For anyone who is in the medical field, of course they want to help people or else they wouldn’t be doing what they do. I want to be a teacher for those who are lost on how to better their lives, I want to be an advocate for healthy eating, and I want to be a role model for those who feel like they need guidance and motivation. I never want anyone to feel like they don’t deserve to live a healthy life, or feel like they can’t because they don’t know how to incorporate healthy patterns.
Are you in school to become a dietitian or want to learn more about it? I’d love to hear your journey! Fill out my Contact Me form or leave a reply below and we can chat more!
Much Love,
Alex
thebalanceddonut.com 