Experiences Thus Far

My dietetic internship began with my community rotation, which required me to venture to a different location in the Oklahoma City area each Monday. The weeks flew by –work, projects, evaluations.  With this routine in mind, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to stay in one workplace for nine weeks during my management rotation.
I have now been the dietetic intern for OU Food Services under the supervision of Dot Flowers for a week and a half, and now, looking back, I don’t know how I stayed at my community sites for such a short time. From day one, everyone at this facility treated me with kindness. Each new staff member that Dot introduced me to greeted me with a smile, a firm handshake, and a “can’t wait to work with you.” Compared to other food service establishments in which I have worked, I became immediately amazed with employees’ attitudes. Even in the dish rooms, staff seemed to have a smile on their faces and be treating each other with respect.
Lunch time. Wow! There is simply no other word to describe The Couch cafeteria. I have always considered my alma mater’s cafeteria as excellent. Well, if that was excellent, The Couch is superb. The Couch has everything imaginable –Greek food, baked goods, Asian food, chef’s choice, frozen yogurt, salad bar, and much, much more. My standards of university cafeterias have been officially raised. What good fortune to be able to work with such a great establishment.
I am now beginning to work on my management projects. I had the opportunity of interviewing a few staff members in order to get information for the management review. This provided a great opportunity to get to know these team members on a more personable level. The business plan project is also in the mix at the moment. The OU Staff Week Health Fair will be the special event for which I will plan a healthful sampler, nutrition information pamphlets, and other nutrition education materials. This year, the theme of staff week is “Celebrating Sooner Spirit”; I am excited about incorporating this theme into nutrition education. The recipe development and the performance improvement projects are also on the to-do list. I have been collecting several ideas for each of these every time I visit one of the campus dining facilities. I am hoping to choose an issue which will improve campus food services even more for the Sooner generations to come.
Needless to say, I have thus far thoroughly enjoyed my experiences on the OU Norman campus. More experiences to come. 

-Tess