Dietetic Internship: Week 1

It’s finally here! Ever since finding out in April that I was matched to a dietetic internship, I’ve been preparing, praying, and counting down the days until July 7th showed up, and it has finally arrived! I’ve made a personal vow to myself to keep a regular log of what I do week to week throughout my internship to not only allow me to look back on everything and reflect on all I will have accomplished by the end of the year, but also as a way to keep family and friends updated on what I am doing over the next year since dietetic internships are a bit of a foreign concept to many of them. Ideally I’ll be mindful enough to jot a little entry down for each day of the week to be compiled into one weekly post to make it a bit easier to follow, but we’ll see just how long the daily check-in goes….if nothing else, a weekly recap of highlights! So, here goes!

Monday, July 6th: My first day of class is tomorrow, so today while waiting for my washer/dryer and internet to be set up, I hung around at the apartment, reviewed the syllabus and made sure I had everything gathered together for the morning! It almost felt like the first day of school all over again, but this time I was so worn out from a week at the beach that I had no trouble falling asleep like I normally do 😉

 

Tuesday, July 7th: FIRST DAY! I woke up to get in a workout in the lousy gym at my apartment complex, showered and got ready, and sat down for a nice breakfast before heading off to Biltmore Park where my class is held! I am taking one graduate-level class for the month of July as a way to build upon the foundational knowledge and competencies that I established in my undergrad courses. Class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10-4, with a break for lunch. Today we started off with some ice breaker games to meet the other interns (there are 12 of us total!!), a couple guest presentations, and other general information items before breaking for lunch at noon. We all went for lunch at Brixx as it is located in the same little square as our program building. The afternoon portion of class was a lot of syllabus and assignment reviewing, and getting accustomed to the website that we would be using with the class (similar to eLc for all my UGA friends). Today was really low key but exciting nonetheless, if for no other reason than for the fact that I’ve finally started my internship. It seems so unreal that it is finally here, but the other interns in my program seem awesome, our program director is extremely helpful and approachable, and I live in a town that has so much to offer, so I have high hopes for the year that is to come — even with all the hard work that will undoubtedly come with it. (That sounded cheesier than I want it to, sorry).

Wednesday, July 8th: No class today, but I worked on some assigned work, like updating my resume, reviewing the AND Code of Ethics, and doing a little internal self-assessment.

Thursday, July 9th: Our second day in class was spent working in pairs on a couple short ethics case studies before breaking for lunch. A couple of us found a table outside that we ate lunch at, and maaaaaybe hopped across the street for some froyo…Walked around the square for a bit before heading back up for the second half of class. We have an hour and a half for lunch, which is nice! The second half of our day was with a guest speaker from the WCU library and research center. A couple words (and a video) to describe her: hilarious, animated, and very southern. What could have been a very dull and boring presentation on evidence-based research turned out to be one of the most entertaining lectures I’ve sat in. I feel like I learned more about evidence-based research in the hour and a half we listened to Ann than I did in all of my undergrad, combined. We ended up getting out an hour early, so I ran some errands and (tried) to explore the town a little bit, but instead got stuck in traffic for the better part of an hour. 

Friday, July 10th: No class today! Instead, I spent the afternoon working on class work by completing some ethics modules and quizzes at the cutest coffee shop literally right down the street from where I live. We have an evidence-based research paper due in a few weeks that I planned on beginning as well, but my laptop died and I forgot my charger, so I took that as I sign to quit for the day 😉 I ended up going to a local pub and brewery, Thirsty Monk, for a flight of beer before seeing Magic Mike XXL with one of the other interns in my program, which was a great time! Biltmore Park is a great little area. Not only is this where our class meets, but the area also has a whole slew of places ranging from restaurants, to shopping (REI, Orvis, Barnes & Nobles, a toy store, and Francesca’s, just to name a few), to an awesome movie theater, which is where we went to Thirsty Monk and the movie. I’ve hear Asheville be described as a slightly larger version of Athens, and I can definitely see that.

Saturday, July 11th: I woke up early intending to catch the Wimbledon’s Men’s Championship in the fitness room at my apartment (I don’t get ESPN…….), but turns out it is actually on Sunday. Duh. I ended up watching the Women’s Championship anyway, so it wasn’t a complete lost cause. I ended up grabbing lunch at Green Sage Cafe while finishing up some work from class. 

Sunday, July 12th: I’ve been hoping to find a good church to get involved in while in Asheville, so I started off my Sunday by visiting Biltmore Baptist, and really liked the service and message! Came home for a quick lunch before heading back out to explore yet another coffee shop to start really working on my paper on evidence-based practice that’s due next Monday. I came across High Five Coffee Bar  on Yelp, and after seeing a lot of great comments and checking out their website, I decided to give it a shot, and I feel confident in saying that it might be my “place”. The baristas were extremely friendly, asking how my day had been and striking up easy conversation. I ordered a cappuccino because it just felt like the right thing to do, and I can assure you that it was. Hands down the best coffee drink I have ever had. So, High Five gets a realllly big high five from me. It’s even worth the lengthier drive from my apartment.