After leaving the week-long orientation in New Hampshire, I felt confident and excited to finally begin a new chapter in my life: dietetic internship. Preparing for my first day at my food service rotation felt like preparing for my first day of college. I made sure to print out all of my competencies and RAEFS. Being the Type A personality, I color coded all the rotations and jotted down all the due dates in my planner. With all my ducks in a row, I couldn’t wait to get to bed early and get a good night’s sleep for my first day.
I nervously arrived at my food service rotation and met with my preceptor, who also so happens to be the general manager. I toured the facilities, introduced myself to the staff, and tried my best to not get in anyone’s way. By this time, the kitchen was preparing to serve lunch and the staff began to pick up the pace in order to get everything ready. My food service rotation only has 5 staff members, which consists of the executive chef, grill chef, deli & salad chef, dishwasher, and the cashier. I realized that I could let my nervousness take control and stay out of everyone’s way or I could take initiative and ask the staff if I could help them with anything. I decided the latter and offered a helping hand, which the staff gladly accepted.
I soon found myself in the dish room cleaning off and stacking dirty plates; in the market place, restocking sodas and snacks; in the cafeteria, handing out menus and telling the clients what the entrée special for the day was. The day went by so fast and by the time lunch was over it was time to clean up and go home. I completely forgot how nervous I was just a few hours before. When you’re a new and fresh dietetic intern, new experiences can be very overwhelming and cause you stay in your comfort zone. The solution to that is to tell yourself that each new experience will help you learn new skills that you can use in your next rotation. I learned to not be afraid to take initiative and simply ask others if they need help, even if it’s something small. Every action no matter how big or small, helps you and helps the staff to reach a goal.
I nervously arrived at my food service rotation and met with my preceptor, who also so happens to be the general manager. I toured the facilities, introduced myself to the staff, and tried my best to not get in anyone’s way. By this time, the kitchen was preparing to serve lunch and the staff began to pick up the pace in order to get everything ready. My food service rotation only has 5 staff members, which consists of the executive chef, grill chef, deli & salad chef, dishwasher, and the cashier. I realized that I could let my nervousness take control and stay out of everyone’s way or I could take initiative and ask the staff if I could help them with anything. I decided the latter and offered a helping hand, which the staff gladly accepted.
I soon found myself in the dish room cleaning off and stacking dirty plates; in the market place, restocking sodas and snacks; in the cafeteria, handing out menus and telling the clients what the entrée special for the day was. The day went by so fast and by the time lunch was over it was time to clean up and go home. I completely forgot how nervous I was just a few hours before. When you’re a new and fresh dietetic intern, new experiences can be very overwhelming and cause you stay in your comfort zone. The solution to that is to tell yourself that each new experience will help you learn new skills that you can use in your next rotation. I learned to not be afraid to take initiative and simply ask others if they need help, even if it’s something small. Every action no matter how big or small, helps you and helps the staff to reach a goal.
