Meet Nutrition and Dietetics Major Kimberly

I’m originally from Annapolis, Maryland, and I moved to Louisiana in 2013. I like the medical field, and I was originally a student at Northwestern State University in radiology and then switched to exercise science. In one of my Intro to Exercise Science classes, I had an assignment where I had to interview a worker in the field of exercise and nutrition. So I chose a dietician and was like, “Hmm, what’s a dietitian?”

I was still kind of on the fence of what would I do with an exercise science degree, and the further I looked into being a dietitian, I was like, “Oh, I really like the idea of this,” and then when I did the interview, I asked a bunch of questions about what dietitians did and it aligned with what I would want to do. So that’s what made me want to switch to nutrition and dietetics.

When I started researching about nutrition and dietetics, I found out to become a dietitian you have to attend an accredited programs through the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND), which, in Louisiana, there were only a handful of schools that have that accreditation, one of which was McNeese. For me, McNeese was the most realistic option as far as commuting and tuition.

I always praise McNeese in the sense that it’s challenged me, which I like. My experience has been very good. I’ve learned how to manage my time effectively to be successful. I always say, if I can do it, you can do it, because it’s all about just managing your time and putting your effort into something that you want to accomplish. When I was a sophomore, I also joined the Student Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, otherwise known as SAND. The leaders of the organization moved on to internships, so I was able to step up into leadership with that.

This semester I’m in a dietetic field experience where we have to observe registered dietitians. I’ve been to West Calcasieu Cameron hospital, the endocrinology unit in Lake Charles, and I will be going to Lake Charles Memorial. It’s been so much fun. It’s like everything that I’ve learned is being applied, and actually seeing the work in front of you, to see what you’ve learned in the real world is an awesome experience. I’ve learned a lot about how dietitians go about being a dietitian, and see how they navigate special diets like a diabetes diet, or the cardiovascular diet, and really see blood work that we’ve learned to red flag. Interacting actual patients and being able to experience that has been really rewarding.

I was pre-selected for the master’s degree in nutritional sciences at McNeese, and I’m really excited for the internship, which starts in August, because we are thrown into so many different areas. We get to do food service, community and clinical. So we really get to learn what our niche is. If I had this answer right now, I would say after I graduate I want to go into clinical and working on that side of things, but you never know.