Well, here I am. It is Sunday evening, and I have failed at keeping up with my daily recaps for this week. Seeing how well I can recall past information is some form of exercise for the brain, right?
This was my third full week in Asheville, which is so hard to believe! I’m slowly learning my way around day by day, and relying on my GPS less and less, making me feel like a true resident. This coming week will be the final week of our summer class before we get a short break….before diving into clinical rotations! Scary to think that in a mere month I will be heading into the hospital in Brevard ready to learn, observe, and counsel my way through the following four months.
Monday, July 20th: Eh heh….ummm, what did I do today… Well. I did make a really good carrot cake smoothie that I shared on Instagram… And aside from that, worked on some quizzes and class work related to cultural competency and the standards of practice for Registered Dietitians.
Tuesday, July 21th: We started off class this morning by taking a simulated RD exam. Like any other test, you would ideally study beforehand, but in this instance I wanted to get a good baseline of where I stood in terms of what I remembered well and what I needed to focus more attention on before taking the real exam in a year. And truthfully, it wasn’t as bad as I thought! That’s not to say that I would’ve passed straightaway, but the questions were pretty straight forward and I found myself (fairly) easily recalling information I learned in my MNT classes a good bit. Granted there were many questions where I was torn between 2 answers, but I would much rather be on the fence like that than have absolutely no idea what the answer could be, ya know? It was a great learning experience, and now I’m more aware of my weaker spots in the field. I ran home for lunch before coming back for the afternoon portion of class, where we learned a bit more about what’s expected of our final presentation next week. We are each required to give a 15-20 minute presentation on an emerging topic in the field of nutrition/dietetics. We have free reign to choose whatever topic/avenue of interest, which is always hard for me. I feel like there are so many areas of the field that I’m interested in right now, that picking one specific topic is almost harder for me than being assigned one.
Wednesday, July 22th: Got started on topic-researching for a bit before my mom got into town!!! I also confirmed my placement in Brevard with my director, so that’s exciting. My mom and I went out to dinner at a place a few minutes down the road in Biltmore Village (not to be confused with Biltmore Park, where my class is!) then ended the evening with some decorative houseware shopping at Marshall’s and Target. I’d say 90% of my apartment was decorated, but there were still a few things that I needed — finishing touches, if you will.
Thursday, July 23rd: Our class met online for about an hour and a half this morning. Our director had to undergo emergency eye surgery a few weeks ago (did I mention that last week?), so she hasn’t been able to drive and come to class in person, hence the online meeting. We discussed due dates for assignments as well as presentation topics just to make sure everyone was on the same page. My mom and I spent the rest of the afternoon antique shopping and searching for more household goodies — mainly a desk. No luck today, because I am arguably the pickiest human being on earth. We ended the evening with dinner at my apartment: the best baked chicken breast with roasted veggies and a side salad. A classic.
Friday, July 24th: And on the third day…..we continued the search for a desk…and had some success!! Now I finally have a place that I can store all my notes, textbooks, pens, and all things scholarly. I even got a fun little chair to match. I’m ecstatic, honestly. My mom was an angel and put it all together for the better half of the afternoon while I trudged along with my presentation research. We both called it quits for dinner and headed out to downtown Asheville for a classic burger at Lexington Avenue Brewery. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve had a good burger like that. My iron levels love me right now.
I finally nailed down my topic, and am focusing on baby-led weaning! Traditionally, parents are encouraged to offer pureed and mashed foods via spoon to infants starting at 6 months old alongside breastfeeding or formula feeding, but the baby-led weaning approach has started to grow in popularity as many parents have begun offering their 6 month old infants whole, solid forms of food in place of purees. Think chunks of banana, avocado, and steamed veggies. A second key feature of baby-led weaning is that the baby feeds itself, picking up the pieces of food and moving them to the mouth, without parental support. Some touted benefits of BLW are an infant and child that exhibits healthier eating behaviors and self-regulation of appetite, enhanced fine motor skills, shared family meal time, a later introduction to solid foods, a more normalized BMI, and overall a more positive relationship with food. Of course there are concerns as well, mainly that of choking, iron deficiency, and lack of adequate intake at such a crucial time. This topic was of interest to me, especially after working so closely with mothers and infants of this age group in WIC. Hopefully my enthusiasm will show through in my presentation — eek!
Saturday, July 25th: Mom left this morning so that I could dive into my presentation research without having to worry about entertaining her. Sooo yeah, I spent the majority of my Saturday parked at my new little desk area, researching studies and reviews on baby-led weaning! I had to take a break (and reach 10,000 steps on my fitbit), so I went out for a 5 mile run at a local park followed up by a quick stop by TJMaxx. I heard they had wild friends PB on sale, and sure enough they did! Snagged me a nice jar of honey pretzel PB for $4.99. YAHTZEE! Came home and showered before going out to dinner with a friend, but was in bed by 9:45. Riveting life of a 23 year old.
Sunday, July 26th: Woke up a bit early to squeeze in a quick workout before heading off to church and immersing myself in even more research, despite it being perfect pool weather. Sigh. I just have to keep telling myself that I only have 4 more days until I get a whole 2 week break!! But honestly, it isn’t even the work that gets me, it’s just the fact that my mind is more scattered than the notes on my desk. I think I have 22 tabs opened up on my internet tab, along with 4 different word documents. I always thought I was organized, but this is looking to prove me wrong.
So, I think I actually covered everything, despite having to go back in retrospect and recall everything that happened in the last week. Do y’all enjoy these little recaps? Hopefully they’ll be a bit more interesting when my actual rotations begin in a month. I’m anticipating that my two week break will be spent reviewing every clinical lab value, disease process, and enteral/parenteral feeding calculation possible to man in an effort to not look and sound like a complete idiot on my first day.
Check back next week for the final week of my summer class! Will I make it? Will I have pulled out all of my hair before next Friday? Only time will tell….