All I can say is "WOAH"

I will preface this entry with the following: I am really excited about this opportunity, still, and am thankful that we will get to experience quite literally all options a dietitian has for careers.

Now, on to the nitty gritty, crazy stuff we learned today.  I feel like my brain is full to the point of near-overflow with information about where things are, who certain people are, and what all I will be doing over the next eight weeks in food service.

I begin my time here at Mayo working in the Food Service department learning about everything from patient meal service, to retail services, and finally to food service management.  The rotations themselves won't be too much, just remembering WHERE to go and WHEN I am supposed to be at work will be tough!  Some rotations have us getting in around 9, most of them around 7, but even some as early as 6 and 6:30 am!!  Those will be the long days, but the good news is that no days will be keeping us past 4:30.  Most days even have us getting out at 3:30.

While I can't disclose too much information, due to the nature of our work and the privacy Mayo likes to maintain, I can tell you that the food service rotation comes with many projects.  We will be planning a theme meal (flash back to HRIM 330 and the dinners the 430 HRIM students made) and education posters individually as well as a few smaller projects and handouts to be used at various events throughout the rest of the internship.  Together, we will come up with a hurricane preparedness project and develop a 3-day meal plan for a family of four going through a hurricane.  Since we are so prone to these natural disasters and hurricane season is quickly peaking, this project will be happening quite quickly.

We got to spend a little more time with one of the previous class' interns who will be here until Labor Day.  She seems super nice and has told us that the two of them are interesting in taking us out to dinner to get to know the program further and spend some time with them!  Rory, the current intern we've met, gave us their contact information, and I found out that the second intern, Dacyl, is from Kennett Square (near home) and she has a 610 area code!  I immediately felt more comfortable knowing I'm not the only northerner here because sometimes I worry that people think I'm too loud or that I talk to fast or use wrong words.

We got out of work around 3:30 today after passing the IRB test (qualifying us to work with human subjects for research).  We made a pit-stop at Target to get a few things and then came home to brain dump.  I went to the gym for a little to keep my knee moving well and then just relaxed on the couch.  We're watching some TV now after Jessica and I both put everything into our planners for the next eight weeks.

I am and was really happy to get our schedule for this internship, but also a general schedule for the rest of the internship.  I was SO happy when I found out that I had Labor Day off, which means I get to go home and not only see my family but spend some time with Jeff at home (since he will also be traveling there).  We get two days at Thanksgiving which will be a very pricey flight home unfortunately.  We also get the ENTIRE week off at Christmas, which means I will be able to see some snow (hopefully!!! and hopefully it doesn't mess with my travel plans)!

I thought today's entry would be a lot longer due to the amount of information I seem to have bouncing around in my head but I think I've managed to hit all the high points.  Tomorrow we take an actual practice RD exam and I am not setting my hopes high.  I am hoping that I will end up knowing more than I think I will, but it's pretty intimidating.  Luckily, our internship director won't look at these scores, only we will so I don't need to be worried that she will say "whoops, I guess we should send you home instead."

So here's to really jumping in and getting our feet wet as pre-RD's tomorrow!

Last Day of Orientation

Happily, we had our last day of orientation today!

Jessica, Ashley, and I didn't have to come in until 10am because, since we aren't salaried employees, we didn't have to attend the benefits talk.  Thank goodness!! It was supposed to be a TWO HOUR presentation/talk on all their options...booooooriiiing.

We took that time to find the Nutrition Services Department and introduce ourselves to some of the staff there.  It was Jess's idea and I was so glad she came up with it!  We met our internship director (Sherry), the assistant director (Ron), and their assistant (Annette).  We hadn't anticipated being able to meet Sherry and Ron but were pleasantly surprised when they were there!  Sherry gave us a little tour of the small department and introduced us to one of the November match interns, three of the dietitians, and a few other people who work out of that office as well.  We think that food service will be our first rotation based on some things said, so I am happy to get that out of the way!

We left there, got our parking passes, and headed over to the orientation room to meet up for a tour of the campus/buildings!  The tour guide in me loved this part and I think it really helped us get a feel for where we would be working.  The Mayo campus is honestly like a country club/resort and it is simply gorgeous.  I am so happy to be working in such a sunny, happy place.

Following the tour was lunch and a resources fair.  Unfortunately, I didn't think many things during the fair applied to me but it was definitely better than sitting through presentations!  The rest of the afternoon was presentations on things from communication in the work place to teamwork, things I thiiiiink I already know about.  So by the time 4:15 rolled around I SO wanted to be out.

Jessica and I made a pit stop at DSW on the way home to get some slip-resistant, cute shoes for our food service rotation so we don't have to look frumpy.  We made it home in a thunderstorm that reminded me of those I got to see in Tennessee (huge thunders and lightning but no rain...so weird).

I made some dinner and now am really just enjoying relaxing, watching some HGTV, and getting excited for tomorrow!  We have a meeting first thing with some people from the Mayo School of Health Sciences and then at 9 are meeting with Sherry.  We are really hopeful that Sherry will shed light on our rotations, schedule, and days off so we can all finally plan some things!

Check back tomorrow for a REAL update about the actual internship!!


PS: we got our ID badges today :) I'm now so official!

Day One: Done!

Well, as expected, the first day was fairly ordinary as it was orientation with all the newest employees.  Unfortunately, that means we didn't do anything that was related specifically to our program.  We did however get to learn a lot about the Mayo Clinic itself and it's history.

Our day started at 7:45 with general orientation things like ice breakers and videos.  Jessica and I conveniently drove together (the benefits of being roommates) since we're currently on the same schedule.  Later into rotations we might be on different schedules so we figured we would take advantage while we could.  We got to meet the third intern and get to know her throughout the day which was also really nice.  Her name is Ashley and she got her master's in nutrition from Georgia Southern in May.  The morning ended with a stroll to get our ID photos taken and then lunch in the cafeteria.

After lunch came more and more orientation presentations and finally ended with a Mayo themed Jeopardy.  By the time 4 o'clock rolled around, we were certainly ready to get out!  Thank goodness our jobs don't come with meetings all day because I was so itching to do something active.  When we got home I decided to go check out our apartment complex's gym for a little exercise (first time since surgery!).  It's really nice and perfect for what we need right here, no need to join another gym and pay extra!

We lucked out for orientation tomorrow and don't have to be in until 10 because the two hour benefits talk from 8-10 doesn't apply to us!  It will be a nice, relaxing morning before we jump into the actual internship portion on Wednesday.  I'm really hoping we find out about rotations, our office, days off, and everything else on Wednesday because I'm dying to have a schedule!  That was something that Jessica, Ashley and I all agreed on.  We are clearly very similar and I think we are going to get along really well.

Thats all the "exciting" stuff for today but hopefully tomorrow is a little less boring.  I can't wait to actually get to the internship part because today was such a tease! 

Day one down and it's crazy to think in only 234 days I'll be done!  (Okay when I say it it sounds a lot longer than it feels, but still...not too long!)

Welcome to the Sunshine State!

The move to Jacksonville was mostly smooth aside from a minor hiccup with the bedframe/mattress.  Unfortunately, we purchased a queen size frame and a double mattress and slats so we had to make an impromptu trip to the mattress store.  Luckily, Mom and Dad were able to return the Ikea mattress to the store so we didn't lose out on any money.

My roommate Jessica and I are getting along really well and are very similar.  We're both so glad that living together worked out because I really think being in an apartment alone would have been very quiet.  We spent a few hours this morning at the pool and are just enjoying relaxing before our internship officially begins.

Our apartment is in a really nice area not too far from shopping (clothing, food, etc) and the Mayo Clinic.  Before Mom and Dad left we explored most of the area and found everything that I'll really need for the duration of my time here.  I shouldn't need to go too far from the apartment for anything which is really nice.

I was very fortunate to get to fly to be with Jeff for the 4th of July and we had a really nice time.  We didn't do anything too special, but just hanging out was really fun.  On my flight back I got to see a few spots of fireworks when we were coming into Jacksonville.  It felt festive and fun and was really cool to see them from above.

Although I don't know what exactly to expect in the coming weeks for the internship, I know that it will all be great!  I know we're going to learn lots and be challenged in good ways.  I'm most excited to just apply everything I've learned and really DO what I've been studying for.

I hope to update this blog at least once a week to track my progress and update about any fun things I've been doing at Mayo.  The first few days of this week aren't looking too exciting, just new employee stuff through Tuesday but finally Nutrition Services orientation Wednesday!!