Aloha everyone. My name is Mari McClenney and I am a region 12 Sodexo dietetic intern completing my internship on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. My internship experience has opened my eyes to the many different career paths within the field of dietetics. The highlight of my internship has been my leadership rotation, where I explored the role of a culinary dietitian. I had a wonderful opportunity to work at the Culinary Institute of the Pacific.
During my leadership rotation, I helped teach the Nutritional Cuisines class by giving lectures, doing cooking demonstrations, and provided support to the students with their weekly cooking projects. It was so rewarding to see the growth in nutritional knowledge the students obtained by the end of the course. My leadership concentration allowed me a lot of flexibility in the learning objectives I wanted to achieve. One of my learning objectives was to create several Hawaiian-Pacific fusion plant-based recipes inspired by famous local dishes. Doing my concentration in leadership was a great way to customize my own internship, making it such a fulfilling learning experience.
During my leadership rotation, I helped teach the Nutritional Cuisines class by giving lectures, doing cooking demonstrations, and provided support to the students with their weekly cooking projects. It was so rewarding to see the growth in nutritional knowledge the students obtained by the end of the course. My leadership concentration allowed me a lot of flexibility in the learning objectives I wanted to achieve. One of my learning objectives was to create several Hawaiian-Pacific fusion plant-based recipes inspired by famous local dishes. Doing my concentration in leadership was a great way to customize my own internship, making it such a fulfilling learning experience.
Currently, I am in my food service management rotation and have been having a blast! I recently completed my retail marketing project, called “Plant-Based Plates from Around the World” featuring a flavorful plant-based entrée from another country. For my special, I created a Vietnamese-inspired Lemongrass Tofu Salad with vermicelli noodles, sautéed onions, pickled carrots and daikon, and a sweet chili vinaigrette. My preceptor has been such an awesome mentor throughout my project and has taught me a lot about the management point of view, such as food costing, ordering, and receiving products.
So far, my dietetic internship has been a wonderful and educational experience. I continue to learn something new every day, ultimately preparing me for my future career as a dietitian. As a mom of two young children, I was nervous before starting my internship on how I could balance everything. However, the Sodexo dietetic internship is individualized when it comes to scheduling and selecting rotation sites, making it very manageable. I’ve learned the key to doing well in the internship is to do something new each day and stay organized. My advice is to future interns is to find your motivation and remind yourself that you can do this, even if it means stepping outside of your comfort zone! I’m so grateful to be a Sodexo dietetic intern and am excited to see where this journey takes me!
So far, my dietetic internship has been a wonderful and educational experience. I continue to learn something new every day, ultimately preparing me for my future career as a dietitian. As a mom of two young children, I was nervous before starting my internship on how I could balance everything. However, the Sodexo dietetic internship is individualized when it comes to scheduling and selecting rotation sites, making it very manageable. I’ve learned the key to doing well in the internship is to do something new each day and stay organized. My advice is to future interns is to find your motivation and remind yourself that you can do this, even if it means stepping outside of your comfort zone! I’m so grateful to be a Sodexo dietetic intern and am excited to see where this journey takes me!
