STEP Signature Project Reflection

  1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

For my STEP Signature Project, I attended the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior’s annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The theme of this year’s conference was “Designing Tech Competence in your Digital World”, with many speakers focusing on how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the use of technology to deliver nutrition education. I went to various sessions in which nutrition educators discussed how they use technology in their research or work, as well as had many networking opportunities.

  1. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

When people ask me what my plans for the future are, I tell them I am going to be a dietitian. However, when questioned further about what kind of dietitian I want to be, I have never had an answer. There are so many different settings for dietitians: research, inpatient, food service, long-term care, outpatient, community wellness programs, and so much more. When talking to my peers, they always seem to have one or two settings in which they would like to work. However, I have always been open to any setting. While this gives me a lot of opportunity, it is also overwhelming, as I want to narrow down what types of jobs I will apply for in less than a year. The conference I attended for my STEP Signature Project focused on nutrition research. After 3 days at the conference, my understanding of myself and my future career plans have transformed, as I have been able to rule out becoming a research dietitian. Being able to cross something off the list was refreshing. It has allowed me to narrow down my list and focus more energy on learning about other dietitian jobs.

 

  1. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in number two, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation

 

There were several moments throughout the three days of the conference that helped me to cross research off the list. Before the conference, I was browsing the agenda listing all the sessions that would be presented. I was trying to determine which sessions I would be interested in attending while in Atlanta. When going through the sessions, I was excited because so many sounded so interesting. I struggled to pick some that were held at the same time because I wanted to attend both. I flagged a few different ones on topics including prenatal/newborn nutrition, social media, food insecurity among college students, and healthy aging. While at the conference, I made sure to attend these sessions. The first day of the conference, the sessions taking place were not any of the ones I was especially interested in. While I was engaged and ended up learning a lot, I was looking forward to the next two days. The second and third days, I was able to attend some of the sessions I flagged. I ended up not being as engaged in these sessions as I thought I would be. While I thought the topics sounded interesting, I realized the actual research method was not something that interested me. This was the first indication that research may not be for me.

Additionally, I had many interactions that helped me realize this transformation. Specifically, on the second and third days I was able to go to poster presentations that nutrition educators and students made for their research. When talking to them, I again had the feeling that research was not for me. One reason for this was because some of their research ended up producing statistically insignificant results. For example, one educator’s research focused on using nutrition education interventions to decrease consumption of added sugars and sodium in daycares. While you would think that increasing education would lead to results, they found that the sodium intake did not decrease significantly. For all the time and energy used to carry out this study, this seems disheartening. I began to feel that I would rather evaluate research done by others in order to deliver more effective nutrition education, rather than conduct the research myself.

Another reason these interactions transformed me is that much of the research process done by these individuals was time spent reading, analyzing, and writing. I am currently in a dietetic internship, and what I have learned so far from this is that I have enjoyed being up on my feet talking to patients and their families more than the computer work. I think that in my career I would like to be more involved in direct treatment and care, rather than research. As I went through each poster and talked to each researcher, they all had to go through the same process. They had their abstract, methods, intervention, results, and conclusion. I think that the tediousness of doing this over and over with each new research question is something that would make me lose interest quickly. Additionally, some of the research questions took years to complete. I do not think I have the patience to embark on such a long process, further affirming that this may not be the route for me.

 

 

  1. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters

This transformation is extremely valuable to my life, as it is helping me to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life in my career. As an incoming senior year, I have one year left before I am going to be taking my RD exam, applying for jobs, and entering the workforce. From there, I will spend the majority of my life working, and I do not want to be doing something that is not interesting to me. I think that having an open mind is good to some extent, but as graduation draws nearer, I would like to have a greater understanding of myself and what I want out of life. The Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior conference was an incredible experience that brought me clarity on my career path. While I have decided that research is not something I want to pursue, I still had a great time at the conference and learned a lot. For example, the wide variety of research topics that I encountered was mind-boggling. I learned about things I didn’t know fell into the scope of nutrition professionals, such as developing POS systems for produce prescription programs at grocery stores. It is exciting to think that there is so much possibility out there, and I feel I am one step closer to discovering what works best for me.

Sophomore Capstone

This year has definitely been a crazy one and finding a long-term service opportunity was definitely tricky, especially one that would help me reach my goals. Luckily, after some research, I was able to find an OSU organization called Best Food Forward which sells produce to college students at a lower price in order to fight food insecurity. I decided the theme of my sophomore HSS capstone project would be “Fighting Food Insecurity”. One unfortunate impact of this pandemic was the amplification of food insecurity everywhere. With so many people losing their jobs and being kept in their homes, access to food decreased dramatically. For me, there probably wasn’t a better time to get involved and start volunteering to fight food insecurity.

One of the most impactful lessons I learned volunteering with Best Food Forward was the importance of giving nutritionally-adequate, quality food. Many times, people who are food insecure only receive other people’s leftovers or charity. As a result, their diets are monotonous and lack many of the essential nutrients they need to thrive in their environment. Each week, I was proud to package up all the colorful produce from bell peppers to snow peas to apples, knowing that this would truly make a difference in fighting food insecurity.

Along with volunteering with Best Food Forward, I volunteered at a few food pantries to gain more insight into the issue of food insecurity. This was an eyeopening experience because I was working with a more diverse population than just college students. Each person that came through came from a different living situation. One challenge I faced was a language barrier, as many of them spoke Spanish. Additionally, I had another language barrier due to wearing masks: not being able to use facial expressions. This made it even more difficult to communicate. I had never experienced a language barrier like this before, so I had to adjust by using gestures and body language to communicate. By getting out into the city, I became aware of many people’s realities: they and their families are left hungry.

As a Medical Dietetics major, this was an extremely transformational and relevant experience for me. Working with food insecure populations allowed me to enhance the knowledge I am learning in the classroom and apply it to real-life situations. This capstone project helped me come closer to reaching my goal of become a registered dietitian nutritionist by giving me more exposure to how nutrition is used in everyday life. In my career, there is a good chance that I will have to work with the food insecure, so this was a good first step and learning experience

First Year-Year in Review

This year was an incredible learning experience as I was on my own for the first time in my life. During first semester, I came in as a health promotion and exercise science major on a pre-physical therapy track. I found myself incredibly open to joining any student organizations in order to find my place amongst such a huge campus, such as Buckeyes for Ronald McDonald House, the Pre-PT/OT Club, and the OSU Irish dance team. During the Health Sciences Scholars seminar, I learned of an introductory Medical Dietetics course that was being offered during the second session, which was an area that interested me. During the course, I heard from a variety of dietitians who spoke about their experiences in their career, and I knew that I wanted to pursue dietetics. At the end of first semester, I applied to the Medical Dietetics Program.

Since I had gotten used to living on campus, I decided during second semester to become more involved on campus. I got a campus job at Sloopy’s Diner, which really helped me develop time management and communication skills. Because of the realization I made during first semester that I wanted to pursue dietetics, I started volunteering with the Sports Nutrition Program at Ohio State. My second-semester coursework was significantly more challenging than my first-semester classes. By learning to utilize the resources around me, such as tutoring services, and persevering through the challenging curriculum, I have grown and become prepared for future difficult courses. At the end of the semester, I learned that I had been accepted into the Medical Dietetics program, which was extremely exciting. While my first year on campus ended earlier than I had anticipated, I have had so many new experiences and grown so much since I first arrived on campus, and I am looking forward to the three years ahead of me.

Service Engagement

Ohio State has so many opportunities for service that I am incredibly excited to engage in and experience. This past year, my HSS seminar group was intended to enact our social justice service project, which was to organize care-packages for the homeless and deliver them. While we unfortunately were not able to carry out this event due to the pandemic, I was able to take on a new role in planning a service event, as opposed to just participating. I also volunteered with Ohio State’s Sports Nutrition Program this year by restocking the fuel zones for the athletes. This gave me incredible professional experience, and it was rewarding to help ease the busy lives of the student-athletes and assist them in any way possible. Additionally, I volunteered with Buckeyes for Ronald McDonald House, an OSU student organization which prepares meals for the families staying in the house. It was eye-opening to see the incredible stress put on these families due to their situations, and I was happy to help alleviate some of that through the food we made.

For the rest of my time at Ohio State, I would like to continue to explore more service opportunities. I am excited to engage in my capstone service project next year to gain new experiences and learn from the individuals I serve. While I am not sure exactly what I want to do yet, I am looking forward to doing some research until I find an opportunity that is right for me. I also want to continue service throughout my junior and senior years by being open to any opportunities that may cross my path.

Buckeyethon 2020

This year, I decided to participate in Buckeyethon. To be perfectly honest, when I first signed up, I did not quite know exactly what happened at the dance marathon. I knew that we would be raising money for children in the Hematology/Oncology/BMT Unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and I definitely wanted to make a contribution. I also knew that this was special, and a way to come together with the entire Buckeye community to celebrate all of the children and all the hard work put into collecting donations. However, I did not realize how special this event truly was until I arrived at the dance marathon. It was incredible seeing all of the excited students wearing their team colors, singing and cheering. When the children arrived, it made me remember why I was doing this in the first place. Their stories of strength and courage are stories that no child should experience, yet they had the biggest smiles on their faces as they ran down the red carpet. They truly are an inspiration to me and make me want to do the dance marathon again for the next three years.

While I danced and had fun throughout the day, the best part was definitely the final reveal. There was something so powerful about standing next to thousands of Buckeyes after twelve hours of dancing for the kids, waiting in anticipation to see the total amount of our hard work. As the bell rang as each number dropped down, I knew this was what it meant to be a Buckeye. It meant coming together with my fellow students and giving back to the community. It meant using the resources around us to make a difference. It meant working hard and being proud of what we accomplished together. When the final total was revealed, $1,606,087.99, I felt so much joy come over me. I knew that I had been a part of something extraordinary, and I can’t wait to continue making an impact through Buckeyethon.

About Me

Hi, my name is Kathleen Kelly! I am a first-year undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Ohio State’s Medical Dietetics Program. I am also a part of the University Honors and Scholars Center as a member of the Health Sciences Scholars. Health Sciences Scholars has allowed me to explore various careers in the health field by hearing from numerous healthcare professionals, learning about campus organizations related to healthcare, and speaking to upperclassmen about their own career paths. This has allowed me to discover my passion for nutrition and urged me to pursue a career in dietetics.

I am a volunteer and member of the Sports Nutrition program at Ohio State. This has been an incredible experience for me to speak with dietitians on a regular basis about their careers and role in healthcare. It has also allowed me to combine two of my passions, fitness and nutrition, into one opportunity. I am also a member of Ohio State’s Irish Dance Team, which has allowed me to celebrate my Irish culture and continue my love for dance. On campus, I have a job at Sloopy’s Diner. By working in a restaurant, I have learned important transferable skills such as communication, commitment, and teamwork. It has also been an incredible opportunity to get experience working in food service which will be beneficial in my intended career as a dietitian.

My e-Portfolio is an opportunity to display my academic and professional developments which will highlight my interest and skills. It will also be a tool for personal reflection in order to better understand myself and my ultimate goals, whether that be personally or professionally. By keeping a record of my experiences, I will be able to push myself to improve and become more active in the healthcare community.