Clinical Nutrition Experience
Sarah began assisting a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) at Kaiser Permanente during her Freshman year at SDSU after noticing a Nutrition Services department following a doctor's appointment at Kaiser Permanente. She became the first Nutrition Services volunteer in November 2013. At Kaiser, she created therapeutic diet plans for patients and updated the nutrition bulletin board regularly with a variety of topics relating to helpful nutrition and fitness tips. Starting in September 2016, Sarah began working at St. Paul's Senior Services as a Server/Dietary Aide. At St. Paul's, Sarah became familiar with various diets seniors follow, such as seniors with dysphagia following a level 1, 2, or 3 texture diet plan.
Food Service Experience
Beginning in March 2015, Sarah gained experience on how to create delicious dessert creations as an employee at Cream Inc. at the SDSU experience. I learned how to deliver great customer service, practice HAACP food guidelines, and understand how to work well in a fast-paced team environment under pressure. My manager and the owner of the store told me I received positive feedback from customers and was a successful asset to the company, so he promoted me to Shift Leader. As Shift Leader, I gained more responsibility to train new employees and learn how to operate every task in the store, such as opening the store, closing the store, accounting for costs, and taking overhead for supplies. I practiced a lot of the food safety techniques that I learned about in my Nutrition 303 course.
Community Nutrition Experience
During the summer of 2015 before her junior year at San Diego State University, Sarah became a Nutrition Education Intern with the San Diego Food Bank. As a Nutrition Education intern, Sarah taught weekly nutrition classes to a low income elderly population regarding healthy nutrition practices, including how to decipher nutrition food labels, eating healthy on a budget, and healthy, easy recipe ideas. I answered their questions relating to the role of different vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients in the body.
​
​
In her Nutrition 510 course, Sarah shadowed a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at a Women, Infant and Children's facility (WIC) in North Park with her individual counseling sessions with low income mother's regarding proper nutrition during and after breastfeeding as well as healthy food options they could purchase with their food checks they receive from WIC. In addition, I observed a breastfeeding nutrition class, which was very fascinating. After observing several individual counseling sessions and nutrition classes, I taught my own class to a room of several families regarding how children of various age groups can assist parents in the kitchen and the beneficial outcomes of helping in the kitchen. From this wonderful experience, I learned how to utilize open-ended questions and spread my nutrition knowledge to others which was very rewarding. During this course, I also volunteered with Feeding America by sorting good quality food rejected from the supermarket, and distributed food to low income seniors in the nearby community with the San Diego Food Bank. All of these were enriching experiences that fulfilled my desire to create a healthier world.
​
