Personal Statement
I want to enter into the dietetics profession because it combines so many things that I like. Firstly, I simply enjoy the field of nutrition and dietetics, although, I didn’t always know this. I graduated in 2006 from Virginia Tech pursing a Pre-Physical Therapy undergraduate degree. After finishing that degree I was not really sure if that was the route I wanted to go. I moved, acquired a corporate wellness coaching position and fell in love with the power of nutrition and dietetics. To see firsthand participants make such major improvements to their health was very rewarding. My second reason for wanting to work in this profession is because it involves working with people. I love to be around people, hearing their story and trying to find an
individualized approach to help them move forward with their goals. Finally, I enjoy being and working in the healthcare field and being a part of a team. It’s a caring and giving field that allows you to work with other healthcare professionals and continuously grow and learn from them. I also enjoy the fact that each piece of information we pass on to a client has been backed by scientific research and there is a way to explain the reason why things work. With my own personal reasons aside I also know this is the field I want to go into because of the experiences I have encountered.
An experience that has help prepared me for my career would include working as a corporate wellness coachfor three years, during that time I acquired my Wellcoach Health and Wellness Coach Certification. This experience taught me important aspects of behavioral health and gave me the hands on experience of counseling one on one. I also have had the opportunity to work as the local W.I.C. Nutritionist for the past year where I have learned to work with population of pregnant/lactating women, infants and children. In addition, to this I have gained some management/supervisory experience by working as a Waterfront Director at a summer camp and as the Health, Mental Health and Family Services Manager at Head Start of Northeastern Nevada. The Head Start experience has also allowed me to gain experience working with State and Federal mandates, completing a Federal review and a NAEYC accreditation process. My position at Head Start will be changing as I am going to be taking over as the Health and Foodservice Manager. I will be supervising the kitchen staff, the CACFP requirements and keeping track of food allergies and Nutrition Care Plans. I have had multiple other volunteer opportunities where I shadowed the Registered Dietitian at a local long-term care facility and the Clinical Dietitian at the local hospital.
My joint education at Virginia Tech and Kansas State University have giving me some excellent courses within the field to help me become knowledgeable about nutrition and dietetics. By using all of these experiences I have developed some
short and long term goals.
My short term goals include finishing my Didactic Program in Dietetics coursework and entering into an internship in fall of 2014. After attaining my Registered Dietitian credential I plan to work part-time while my children are young. I am hopeful that this part-time work will include my current position with W.I.C. and the workplace wellness program. I would like to start working on some private consulting and/or contractual work with a long-term care facility or private healthcare providers. I like the idea of having multiple PRN options due to the flexibility.
My long term goals have changed significantly since having my son and I imagine they will continue to evolve as my life does. I would really like to have my own small, private practice, potentially branch out into media work (newspaper and/or magazine articles) and I want to focus on specializing on an area that I feel I am the most passionate about, which at the moment is Pediatric/Maternal nutrition. I also have been presented with the idea of working out of a new health center that has opened, which is something I would love to do as wellness/preventive nutrition is near and dear to my heart. Ultimately, my goal is to be working somewhere where I can maintain the ability to work closely with someone and really help guide them to meet their goals. In order to fulfill these goals I need to bring my strengths to the forefront in order to move down my career paths.
My strengths include being determined, organized, genuine, caring, empathetic and objective. I find myself having the personality that works well in the environment of dietetics because I’m able to easily build rapport with a client, even those from various backgrounds; I’m playful with my interactions and always make sure I’m present and active in a conversation with someone. Overall, I’m a great listener and know how to use reflective listening so that a client knows that I hear what
they are saying. With strengths there are also weaknesses, and it’s important to know one’s weaknesses in order to be intentionally improving upon them at all times.
My weaknesses come into play dependent on the environment I’m working in. I find that I need autonomy in my job, and I struggle if I do not have that. Along those same lines, I’m very independent which, at times, isn’t always the best trait to have in the workplace. With compiling all of this information I’m positive I have found the right field for me.
I find that my years of experience before returning to a Didactic Program in Dietetics have allowed for me to affirm that Dietetics is the right route for me. I have had the time to grow as a person and discover what is important to me. It wasn’t until I had this time that realized what I wanted to do. What I know now, for sure, is Dietetics is definitely what I want to do.