Welcome to April! Where Did March go?? I feel like 2012 is just zipping by. Actually, I feel like the last 12 months have passed at lightening speed.

Today marks the day that all internship applicants find out whether they were matched

with a dietetic internship program or not. I can remember so clearly this day last year, all day my stomach was in knots. I was trying to study for an exam and couldn’t concentrate, I tried to workout to take my mind off things but felt so weak when I hit the gym. Anything I did it was like I was a shell of myself, my mind was definitely elsewhere. The day seemed to take f.o.r.e.v.e.r!

For those not familiar with the match day for dietetic internships, it’s a process in which all applicants log on to a website called D & D Digital, we put in our username and password and then wait for the screen to load. Currently the match rate is only about 50%, meaning only 50% of all applicants nationwide will get accepted into an internship program. Without being accepted and completing an internship you are not eligible to become a Registered Dietitian.

I was

so nervous to check my results last year that I actually closed and covered my eyes and made Kevin look. He either had to be the bearer of bad news or tell me the good news – that I got in. Thankfully for me (and Kevin!) he only had to deliver the latter news.

Seeing how excited other RD2be’s are today brought a lot of memories back from match day last year. As I sit here thinking about this day one year ago I realize how quickly the internship went. We spend 4 hard years of undergrad studies preparing ourselves to be the best possible candidates for an internship and then it is all over almost as quickly as it started. In 12 months I have graduated with a B.S in Dietetics, started and completed my internship requirements and accepted a new position that couldn’t be any closer to my ‘dream job.’  I won’t say that these 12 months were easy; the internship was busy, challenging and sometimes frustrating but the rewards you get for putting in all the work definitely outweigh the hard times ten fold.

So to all the Rd2be’s that were matched today: Congratulations!! It is so exciting to see hard work pay off, to see other aspiring dietitians join a truly rewarding profession, and most importantly see these people share such a strong passion to that of your own.

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One major competency for the community section of my dietetic internship is to teach an education class to the public. The program I am currently interning with assigned

me to write the curriculum and present two different classes at the Fresh Start Women’s Foundation. The first class was “Healthy Eating on a Budget” and the second one was “Balancing Food and Fitness”. Personally, this has been one of my favorite assignments of the whole internship (it also happens to be in my last two weeks so maybe that makes me a little more enthusiastic?!) as it gives me the opportunity to teach other women something I am passionate about and see them get excited about it, too.

While teaching the women, I too have the chance to learn new things about myself and be exposed to a population I otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to work with. While planning the classes, I had to consider the different learning styles that women would bring to the class and how this effects the way I am presenting the information. Last night one woman told me she lived solely on fast food and convenience foods for almost 20 years and admitted that lifestyle almost killed her. She has since lost 80 pounds and is constantly looking for new ways to be healthy. Hearing stories like this is why I love my profession. While talking about various fresh produce, some women had never heard of various vegetables I was mentioning. I loved seeing how excited they got when learning about new foods and ways to prepare quick, easy meals. It was inspiring to sit in a room full of women and see their ‘ah-ha’ moments of how they can make better choices for a healthy lifestyle.

On the drive home I was thinking about what a great experience this assignment had been and how thankful I was to be given the opportunity. Thanks to these women, in the process of teaching them I was learning things about myself.

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I recently found the image below on pinterest.

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