My passion to become a dietitian is rooted in my junior year of high school when I made

the varsity soccer team. I wanted to maximize my athletic performance, so I conducted research
on how to better fuel my body. My teammates noticed changes in my muscle tone and
endurance, so they began asking questions. Initially, I acted as a resource to my teammates, then
to family and friends. This is what sparked my passion to help others achieve their healthiest and
happiest self. Beginning with a focus on sports nutrition, my interest progressed to child and
maternal health, renal dialysis, and now clinical nutrition. I’ve learned dietetics isn’t just about
eating healthy; it’s a form of healing. I want to become a dietitian so I can leave a lasting impact
on my clients by promoting healthier living and helping them achieve a better quality of life.
My education at the University of Wisconsin- Stout, extra-curriculars, international
experience, and work history prepared me for a career as a dietitian. I matched my hands-on
learning style with Stout’s polytechnic emphasis, which created a strong foundation for what I
will utilize as a dietitian. Interactive courses like Nutritional Assessment and Nutrition Education
gave me real world learning experiences due to their collaborative nature. My Spanish minor
introduced me to a new culture and their language. This diversity will allow me to better serve
the Hispanic population.
My extra-curricular involvement in the Stout Student Dietetic Association (SSDA) and
Phi Upsilon Omicron has prepared me for dietetic leadership roles. I started as the secretary for
Phi Upsilon Omicron and transitioned to treasurer. In SSDA I was voted as president- elect and
advanced to president the following academic year. As president-elect I coordinated and
publicized volunteer opportunities. I furthered my professional communication skills through
emails and phone calls to set up events. Throughout my presidency of SSDA, my leadership
abilities expanded. I’m confident I can delegate, speak publicly, and act as a team player. My
role as president involves planning bi-weekly member and board meetings, therefore flexibility
and problem-solving skills are important. I strive to effectively delegate by assigning a similar
amount of work to myself and others. My experiences from my extra-curriculars highlighted my
enthusiasm and drove my passion for leadership. This left me eager to pursue a dietetic
internship with an emphasis in leadership.
I participated in international field experience on the beautiful island of Saipan, which is
off the southern coast of Japan. For this opportunity I coordinated my flight, housing, rental car,
and meals. Since Saipan is 16 hours ahead of us, I planned the trip over email. The planning
process required patience, communication, money, and time, but it was all worth it. I shadowed
and completed projects for renal, clinical, school, and community dietitians. During my time on
the island, I completed nutrition education pamphlets for the dialysis clinic pertaining to fluid
and sodium intake and I wrote a newspaper article for the Saipan Tribune titled “Why So
Salty?”. I gave an in-service presentation to the hospital’s kitchen staff regarding therapeutic
diets and made a two-month cycle menu for a summer school program. While I completed many
projects, my favorite was collecting anthropometric data for a community Zumba class and
analyzing its results. From this international experience I accumulated 197 hours of field
experience and created unforgettable memories.
Through my position at American Lutheran Communities, I completed 202 additional
field experience hours. My roles included shadowing the long-term care dietitian, completing
projects, and working in the kitchen as a dietary aide. I completed a cardiac/renal/diabetic snack
menu, a low-fiber menu, and a dialysis sack lunch menu. Aside from projects, I worked as a
dietary aide and gained perspective on operations required for food-service management.
Through this position I applied sanitation concepts as well as therapeutic diet components. I feel
more prepared to become a dietitian because of the time management skills and authentic
leadership I gained through my education, extra-curriculars, international field experience, and
work history.
My strengths that contribute to my leadership capabilities include punctuality, as I’m
always early to class and meetings; dedication, because I don’t let anything interfere with my
academic and extra-curricular responsibilities; organization with balancing my obligations, and
enthusiasm because I have fun with dietetics. These strengths will help me achieve my goals of
getting accepted to Green Bay’s internship, graduating with Magna Cum Laude Honors,
becoming a preceptor for a dietetic internship, and gaining a specialization as a Certified
Diabetes Educator.
While I do have applicable strengths to Green Bay’s internship, I am actively working to
improve my weaknesses of indecisiveness, over-attentiveness to small details, and acceptance of
criticism. I want people to be happy with my decision when planning an event, so I become
indecisive when I’m struggling to please everyone. When completing an extensive project, I mull
over small details when I could be focusing on larger aspects. It’s my expectation that at the end
of my internship I will be able to accept criticism more constructively. Moving forward with my
strengths and weaknesses, I will continue what I’m doing well and improve my downfalls, so I
can develop into a more influential leader.
I’m drawn to Green Bay’s internship because I want to take the next step in becoming a
dietitian while continuing to grow as a leader. The rotations I’m most looking forward to are the
community rotation with Prevea, MNT with Bellin, and elective rotation with DaVita. My strong
foundation in leadership, international field experience, work history as a dietary aide, and
conceptual knowledge in dietetics will set me apart from other applicants. John C. Maxwell
inspired me when he said, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes they way, and shows the
way”. I believe the University of Wisconsin- Green Bay dietetic internship is the way for me; I
will be forever grateful if I’m given the opportunity to go this way and promise to show the way
for future dietitians.