I was contacted many times this past week to help guide people with career ambitions in the health field. It’s been fun and yet a bit overwhelming to think back to the beginning of my journey and reflect on where I am today. My journey has not been always easy and hasn’t come without sacrifices, a lot of hard work, patience and support. I had a dear friend from the very beginning always telling me to enjoy the journey and not just focus on the end. Being a very goal-oriented person, this is extremely difficult advice for me to follow, yet so important.
My college years were spent on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia where I logged countless miles of rowing with my teammates on extremely cold, dark and early mornings. I was also pursuing a degree in food marketing and was not really sure what I would do. I had a passion for health, nutrition and exercise, but had no clue where that would lead me.
Graduation led me straight back to my childhood home on Breckenridge Place (not exactly the place a recent grad envisions), a suburb of Washington, DC. My primary focus was determining what I wanted to do for a career and figuring out a way to achieve it. I enrolled at the community college and began taking science-focused courses knowing I would pursue an advanced degree in the health field. While back at home, I immersed myself into the sport of triathlon and spent all of my free time in the pool swimming, on the road biking or on the trail running.
C&O Canal in Maryland where I do almost all my running.
Combining my goal of an advanced degree and new love for triathlon, I journeyed to San Diego, the birth-place of triathlon, to begin a dual master’s program in exercise physiology and nutrition. Most people would imagine my time was spent surfing, swimming or sitting in the sun, however the majority of my time was studying in a Starbucks. Hundreds of note cards and three extremely long years later, I graduated with two advanced degrees.
My favorite spot for all things sporty in Del Mar, CA.
My time in California was anything but sunny, especially the day I found out my post-graduation plans weren’t happening. Following graduation, my plan was to go straight into a year-long dietetic internship on the east coast, which would complete my requirements for becoming a registered dietitian. So in April, one month prior to graduation, I found out I wasn’t selected for a program and was devastated.
I did have a “Plan B” if the internship didn’t happen and that was to work for the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, focused on the elimination of childhood obesity. Once I graduated in May, I again moved back to Breckenridge Place and spent the entire summer making my back-up plan a reality. Through networking and extreme determination, I landed a job with the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.
I’ve been with the President’s Council now for a year and a half and work on the Let’s Move! initiative every day. I’ve had multiple visits to the White House and take part in many of the events with the First Lady to educate kids and adults on the importance of being active and eating healthy. I’m also halfway through my dietetic internship, which I reapplied for last year, and will be a registered dietitian by the end of 2012.
At the White House Jumping Jack event.
My journey has not been short, has not been easy and has not always been clear. However, my journey has been gratifying, has been unimaginable and most of all has only just begun!
