Hello friends, family and beyond!
In case you're not the reading type, here is a video that summarizes what I'm raising money for!
As many of you know, I’m getting a master's in nutrition from Kansas State University to become a registered dietitian. As many of you may not know, the path to becoming a registered dietitian is a long process with many steps, culminating in a 1,200-hour unpaid internship. Well, that’s not the whole truth, not only is it unpaid, I have to pay to do it. A lot of money. Like $10,000 for tuition. What's more, it’s not technically considered school so taking out student loans is not an option. Who on earth would want to pay $10,000 to work for free for 8 months?! Me! Hear me out…
Registered Dietitian vs. Nutritionist
Years ago, I decided to go back to school to study nutrition, I wanted to know the “truth” about the best foods to eat to reach optimal health. I soon learned that the nutrition experts are registered dietitians, not “nutritionists.” To be clear, all registered dietitians are nutritionists but not all nutritionists are registered dietitians. In fact, pretty much anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, the word has no legal definition. A registered dietitian, however, needs to have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree (a master’s degree will be required starting in 2022) with courses in: chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, biology, anatomy & physiology, nutrient metabolism, nutrition needs throughout the life span, counseling, public health, nutrition assessment, food service management, research, medical nutrition therapy, and many more! Taking all these courses takes at least 4 years. After the intensive nutrition courses comes the 8-14 month dietetic internship (my next step!!) Then a comprehensive national exam... then applying for licensure... and DONE... plus continuing education requirements every 5 years. PHEW! (AKA registered dietitians are THE nutrition experts, please do not get your nutrition advice from the internet and, in general, not from a "nutritionist" who took a 6 week certification course).
Getting Accepted into an Internship
After dedicating so much time and effort into completing a nutrition degree, there is only about a 50% chance of getting accepted into an internship. To be part of the accepted 50%, they want to see that you have nutrition related work and volunteer experience and a high GPA. I'm very proud to say that I have a 4.0 at K-State, which hasn't been easy but I am very dedicated. I have a wonderful program director who encouraged all of us to get nutrition related experience to be competitive for an internship (simply having a 4.0 won't cut it). The problem is that many nutrition related jobs at entry level only pay minimum wage, which makes it very difficult to save money to pay for the expensive internship.
My Nutrition Related Experiences
I was lucky enough to be able to live with my mom to reduce my expenses while I worked as a nutrition assistant at a Head Start preschool, which I have to say was the BEST job ever! It was invaluable experience and solidified my desire to become a pediatric dietitian. I had so much fun doing hands on cooking activities, fun nutrition lessons, and taking the preschoolers into the garden to plant and harvest.
Not only did I go into all of the preschool classes, but I also spent time working in the kitchen and delivering lunches to different sites. Every month I'd help tweak the menu so the children would be exposed to a variety of well balanced meals, and then I got to go into the kitchen to make the magic happen! It was great experience and I even had the privilege of taking over the kitchen for 4 weeks as head cook, this was both exhausting and quite fun!
Working in the Head Start kitchen (I made lentil sloppy joes- a recipe I standardized myself, it was a big hit!)
I also spent a lot of time volunteering at a long term care facility over the summer to get clinical nutrition experience. Here, I helped the nutrition department audit meal trays that were being served to the residents to ensure their trays were accurate (what they ordered), the correct temperature, and overall looked pleasing. I also helped them gather nutrition education materials for patients and anything else they needed help with.
I had the honor to fill in at a Farm to Preschool intensive training for child care professionals, presenting a "garden basics" PowerPoint and facilitating a hands on seed planting activity. I presented with a master gardener and the two of us worked together to teach early childhood educators on how to implement gardening at their schools.
I recently presented at an American Society for Quality (ASQ) meeting on healthy employees being quality employees and was flattered when I was told that it was "the most interactive presentation, with by far the most questions asked from the audience."
I also had the privilege to shadow some amazing dietitians and feeding therapists working with a variety of clients with different nutrition needs. With my high GPA and all of my experience, I feel very confident that I am a great candidate for getting in to an internship!
Here I am at Head Start as "Superhero Salad," yeah I go to great lengths to engage with children :)
Giving Back to YOU
I feel extremely vulnerable asking my friends and family for donations to fund my internship. When I see fundraisers for a child with cancer or for a mother battling a rare disease, I think “well I certainly don’t deserve donations, people need crowd sourced money to SURVIVE.” But I have come to terms with asking for your help. I’ve worked extremely hard and sacrificed a lot so that I can pursue my dream and my dream is to help others. I want to help people develop a healthy relationship to food, I want to help people navigate through the many layers of nutrition misinformation, I want to make the profession of dietetics more affordable and accessible to students, I want to give back to my community, I also want to give back to you! If you make a donation (even $5 would help me more than you know!) you can sign on to my weekly Zoom (kinda like Skype/Facetime for those unfamiliar) where you can ask any nutrition related questions your little heart desires! I cannot legally give medical nutrition therapy advice- I cannot provide you with a medical diet to treat a specific disease, but I do have a wealth of knowledge I’d love to share!
Scholarships
I will also be applying to scholarships from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. There are only about 175 scholarships offered ranging from $500- $10,000 and 100 of those scholarships are reserved for students who meet certain criteria (accepted into specific internships, live in certain areas, etc.). There are hundreds (maybe thousands?) of students applying for internships so it is definitely no guarantee that I'll get one. I was denied last year despite my 4.0, relevant experience, and solid letters of recommendation which is part of the reason why I'm branching out and asking you.
Breakdown of Costs
I’m applying to two different internships, one with a tuition of $8,000 and the other $10,750 Here’s a breakdown of what your donations will contribute towards:
$8,000- $10,750 tuition expense
$800- $1,200 travel expenses (there’s a mandatory orientation lasting 7-10 days)
$300- $400 book and software expense
$1,000 to help me pay my bills
Maximum total: $13,350
http://www.kaddi-internship.com/430678078
http://www.hhp.uh.edu/Internship/distance/tuition.php
The internship is 40-50 hours per week for about 8 months, I do plan on working at least 10 hours a week to help pay my bills. I'm saving as much money as possible so that I can continue to pay my rent/bills but I'm asking for an additional $1,000 which would be a huge help while I'm interning/ working like crazy.
Thank you SO much for your support! It means the world to me!
In case you're not the reading type, here is a video that summarizes what I'm raising money for!
As many of you know, I’m getting a master's in nutrition from Kansas State University to become a registered dietitian. As many of you may not know, the path to becoming a registered dietitian is a long process with many steps, culminating in a 1,200-hour unpaid internship. Well, that’s not the whole truth, not only is it unpaid, I have to pay to do it. A lot of money. Like $10,000 for tuition. What's more, it’s not technically considered school so taking out student loans is not an option. Who on earth would want to pay $10,000 to work for free for 8 months?! Me! Hear me out…
Registered Dietitian vs. Nutritionist
Years ago, I decided to go back to school to study nutrition, I wanted to know the “truth” about the best foods to eat to reach optimal health. I soon learned that the nutrition experts are registered dietitians, not “nutritionists.” To be clear, all registered dietitians are nutritionists but not all nutritionists are registered dietitians. In fact, pretty much anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, the word has no legal definition. A registered dietitian, however, needs to have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree (a master’s degree will be required starting in 2022) with courses in: chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, biology, anatomy & physiology, nutrient metabolism, nutrition needs throughout the life span, counseling, public health, nutrition assessment, food service management, research, medical nutrition therapy, and many more! Taking all these courses takes at least 4 years. After the intensive nutrition courses comes the 8-14 month dietetic internship (my next step!!) Then a comprehensive national exam... then applying for licensure... and DONE... plus continuing education requirements every 5 years. PHEW! (AKA registered dietitians are THE nutrition experts, please do not get your nutrition advice from the internet and, in general, not from a "nutritionist" who took a 6 week certification course).
Getting Accepted into an Internship
After dedicating so much time and effort into completing a nutrition degree, there is only about a 50% chance of getting accepted into an internship. To be part of the accepted 50%, they want to see that you have nutrition related work and volunteer experience and a high GPA. I'm very proud to say that I have a 4.0 at K-State, which hasn't been easy but I am very dedicated. I have a wonderful program director who encouraged all of us to get nutrition related experience to be competitive for an internship (simply having a 4.0 won't cut it). The problem is that many nutrition related jobs at entry level only pay minimum wage, which makes it very difficult to save money to pay for the expensive internship.
My Nutrition Related Experiences
I was lucky enough to be able to live with my mom to reduce my expenses while I worked as a nutrition assistant at a Head Start preschool, which I have to say was the BEST job ever! It was invaluable experience and solidified my desire to become a pediatric dietitian. I had so much fun doing hands on cooking activities, fun nutrition lessons, and taking the preschoolers into the garden to plant and harvest.
Not only did I go into all of the preschool classes, but I also spent time working in the kitchen and delivering lunches to different sites. Every month I'd help tweak the menu so the children would be exposed to a variety of well balanced meals, and then I got to go into the kitchen to make the magic happen! It was great experience and I even had the privilege of taking over the kitchen for 4 weeks as head cook, this was both exhausting and quite fun!
Working in the Head Start kitchen (I made lentil sloppy joes- a recipe I standardized myself, it was a big hit!)I also spent a lot of time volunteering at a long term care facility over the summer to get clinical nutrition experience. Here, I helped the nutrition department audit meal trays that were being served to the residents to ensure their trays were accurate (what they ordered), the correct temperature, and overall looked pleasing. I also helped them gather nutrition education materials for patients and anything else they needed help with.
I had the honor to fill in at a Farm to Preschool intensive training for child care professionals, presenting a "garden basics" PowerPoint and facilitating a hands on seed planting activity. I presented with a master gardener and the two of us worked together to teach early childhood educators on how to implement gardening at their schools.
I recently presented at an American Society for Quality (ASQ) meeting on healthy employees being quality employees and was flattered when I was told that it was "the most interactive presentation, with by far the most questions asked from the audience."
I also had the privilege to shadow some amazing dietitians and feeding therapists working with a variety of clients with different nutrition needs. With my high GPA and all of my experience, I feel very confident that I am a great candidate for getting in to an internship!
Here I am at Head Start as "Superhero Salad," yeah I go to great lengths to engage with children :) Giving Back to YOU
I feel extremely vulnerable asking my friends and family for donations to fund my internship. When I see fundraisers for a child with cancer or for a mother battling a rare disease, I think “well I certainly don’t deserve donations, people need crowd sourced money to SURVIVE.” But I have come to terms with asking for your help. I’ve worked extremely hard and sacrificed a lot so that I can pursue my dream and my dream is to help others. I want to help people develop a healthy relationship to food, I want to help people navigate through the many layers of nutrition misinformation, I want to make the profession of dietetics more affordable and accessible to students, I want to give back to my community, I also want to give back to you! If you make a donation (even $5 would help me more than you know!) you can sign on to my weekly Zoom (kinda like Skype/Facetime for those unfamiliar) where you can ask any nutrition related questions your little heart desires! I cannot legally give medical nutrition therapy advice- I cannot provide you with a medical diet to treat a specific disease, but I do have a wealth of knowledge I’d love to share!
Scholarships
I will also be applying to scholarships from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. There are only about 175 scholarships offered ranging from $500- $10,000 and 100 of those scholarships are reserved for students who meet certain criteria (accepted into specific internships, live in certain areas, etc.). There are hundreds (maybe thousands?) of students applying for internships so it is definitely no guarantee that I'll get one. I was denied last year despite my 4.0, relevant experience, and solid letters of recommendation which is part of the reason why I'm branching out and asking you.
Breakdown of Costs
I’m applying to two different internships, one with a tuition of $8,000 and the other $10,750 Here’s a breakdown of what your donations will contribute towards:
$8,000- $10,750 tuition expense
$800- $1,200 travel expenses (there’s a mandatory orientation lasting 7-10 days)
$300- $400 book and software expense
$1,000 to help me pay my bills
Maximum total: $13,350
http://www.kaddi-internship.com/430678078
http://www.hhp.uh.edu/Internship/distance/tuition.php
The internship is 40-50 hours per week for about 8 months, I do plan on working at least 10 hours a week to help pay my bills. I'm saving as much money as possible so that I can continue to pay my rent/bills but I'm asking for an additional $1,000 which would be a huge help while I'm interning/ working like crazy.
Thank you SO much for your support! It means the world to me!
Organizer
Ninette Warner
Organizer
Kingston, NY