Week 7

This week was another event in the rock garden- the Look Local fair. Most of the week I spent prepping for this and assisting Ms. Dot wherever possible. The event showcased all of the local vendors that OU purchases products from. As you can probably guess, there was a ton of free food! And we even had giant pumpkins delivered for students to decorate and take home. The vegan zucchini muffins that I made last week were a hit and so were the "zoodles"- noodles made of zucchini and squash that were lightly sauteed and then tossed with a vegan pesto. Everything went wonderfully :). Afterwards, I was supposed to help with a Presidential dinner, but by the time I arrived, most of the set-up had already been done and the managers let me go since they had enough staff to help cater (which was awesome, because I was pretty tired from working at the fair all day).

Friday I started first thing at the Great Reading Room in the library- there was a luncheon at noon for visiting high school principals and counselors. I helped with set-up, service and break-down after the event. It was fun finally being able to see the entire process from beginning to end (since usually I only do two out of the three parts). It was a beautiful location and I learned that all of the books lining the shelves are actually theses written by former students. A very cool room and I can see why students would want to study there (also it looks very Harry Potteresque). I'm including a picture of it below!

Week 6

This week was another busy one mainly because of the 11 AM football game.

On Monday I worked on projects that I've been putting off for the internship (no worries, I'm caught up now).
Tuesday I went back to Crossroads and met with Mr. Baker in hopes that I could do my Performance Improvement Project with him. We discussed areas of Crossroads that he felt could use improvement, and together brainstormed how we could make the team even stronger. We came up with some pretty good ideas, and I'm excited to see them in action.
Wednesday was more office work but Dot gave me a fun project- I had to go to Couch and test out a recipe for the Look Local fair coming up next week. Thanks to everyone who helped me find the ingredients I needed as well as supplies!! I made vegan chocolate zucchini muffins. Yes, I got some questionable looks when I told people what I was making. But guess what? They were SO good! And healthy- for 9 muffins I only used 1/4 cup of agave nectar for the sugar component. Luckily a bunch of managers were on their lunch break at Couch so I had them try the muffins and the consensus was that they were delicious! Success.
Thursday I met with Shawn Henry, Director of Retail Operations, who kindly took time out of her day to tell me all about her job. It was really interesting learning how the retail operations differ from Couch. It was also fun to learn the future plans for OU when it comes to what retail operations may come.. or go. Thursday was also my in-service presentation at the weekly manager meeting! I taught about wellness, speaking about 14 tips to live healthier (mainly diet tips). I hope everyone enjoyed the presentation and learned a few new things!
Friday I spent at Couch prepping food for the game. I cracked over 500 eggs- all one-handed thanks to Chef Brock showing me the proper technique. I'm now a professional egg cracker. After that, Chef Brock set me up with a ton of raw alligator tail to chop up.. this took the rest of the day. Thank goodness Amberly came over to help me chop otherwise I would've been working on that gator into the night. And also shout-out to the Couch crew again for helping me find stuff and sharpening my knives and just in general making me feel very welcome!
Saturday was game day!! Spoiler- we won!! This game was at 11 AM though, which meant I had to be at work at 4 AM. This wasn't a problem until about the 2nd quarter, where my lack of sleep finally caught up to me. It was a fun shift and I did most of the same things I did at the last game- prep and bake pizzas, prep pretzels, slice over 40 pies, and just help wherever needed.

Another successful week!!

Week 5

We're passed the halfway point! Only four weeks left for me at OU!

Most of this week I spent working on projects, specifically my in-service presentation that I will present at next weeks meeting. It's coming along nicely but there's still some details I haven't figured out yet.

On Wednesday I spoke with Kevin Barker, Director of Business Operations about his role in the Housing and Food Services department. Mr. Barker was very helpful and answered any and all questions that I threw his way (as I am continually working on my Management Review report). It was interesting learning how a budget is created for such a large operation, as well as all the factors that must be considered. And in the end, it is still just a very, very educated guess.

Thursday was the Environmental Information Fair which was organized by Ms. Dot. The fair was in the rock garden, and we provided information to students about where their food comes from and definitions for common phrases that they may have heard but not completely understood. For instance, we explained the differences between things being labeled "organic", "natural", or "non-GMO". The best part of the fair was that the free food samples that we provided of all organic, vegan and allergy free food! It was SO good! There was a white bean 3-layer vegan dip, sweet potato hummus, Mexican brownies, and a delicious Earth Bowl salad with roasted corn, broccoli and candied pepitas.

As mentioned, the rest of the time I worked on assignments for my internship. Next week will be busier as we have another home game on Saturday!

Week 4

Apologies for the delayed post, but this week was very busy!

Let's start from the beginning- On Monday I tested my recipe for the Microwave Madness event at the end of the month. I made vegetarian bean and cheese enchiladas with added veggies, and they were a huge success! I asked some managers here at the office to try them and they were (I think) pleasantly surprised with the flavors.

Tuesday through Thursday I worked at Crossroads with manager Gary Baker. The first day, Mr. Baker taught me practically everything about his job. We talked for over 5 hours and he showed me all of the different aspects of his job. Needless to say, my brain was mush by the time I left that day. There was so much to process but I learned SO much and am very thankful he took a whole day to do that for me. Wednesday I worked as expediter in the restaurant. It was a busy day and the lunch rush was intense, but the day flew by and it was great having some hands-on food service experience. The whole crew was very welcoming and helpful, as well as fun to work with. I hope that I was able to help them by being expediter as much as they helped me! Thursday I was at Crossroads only 5 hours, as I had to go to help with the President's dinner with catering. Mr. Baker taught me the various programs he uses as a manager and gave me a brief overview of each of them. Then, as he was finishing up explaining CBORD to me, the power went out! For those of you that have not been to Crossroads, it is located on the 2nd floor of the Student Union which is underground. Everything went pitch black but Mr. Baker and his crew had emergency procedures in place for just this kind of event. His crew grabbed flashlights and began taking food down to the basement fridges and freezers in order to save as much as they could and not waste it. Shortly after this happened, I had to leave and assist with setting up the President's Dinner. I stayed through the dinner and worked with Robert Weaver as a server before calling it a day!

This Saturday was the first football game of the season and I worked with Danna in the 2nd floor of the suites in the kitchen/pantry. It was a a wild day! I worked 10 hours, which I was sort of dreading, but wow did it fly by! It was hectic and the energy was high, but everyone told me that it's just the first game jitters. I had a lot of fun making pizzas with Chef Steve as well as running supplies to the buffets and 4th floor. And OU won 41-3!! It was an awesome day and I can't wait til the next game! (Except for the fact that I have to be at work by 4am..)


Thank goodness it was Labor Day weekend so I could recharge before next week!