Throughout the culinary and dietetic industry, personal and professional strength are quintessential to a successful career.

There are many specific qualities that feed into this strength, some natural born, while others depend on experience. Growing and adapting this strength throughout my studies and in the food industry (collegiate and career, now) has not only allowed me to grow into myself from an adolescent to a young woman, but also to realize exactly what my strongest suits are and how they play into my future. I am not one who lac s confidence...confidence and asserting myself is something I!"e always easily accomplished. These strong suits, along with an outgoing and amiable attitude and sense of determination and moti"ation are all natural born qualities. #ith these qualities, strengthening other aspects of myself that are not as natural has been much easier. These strengths include efficiency, quic thin ing, thorough communication (between cowor ers and customers, ali e), cross utilization and nutrition in menus, budgeting, assessing patients or customers, and so on. These qualities are reflected in the $ood %cience pro&ect I completed while at 'ohnson ( #ales )ni"., which concentrated on bac ground research of said product, consumer sur"eying, altering and testing recipes, and compiling all this in a professional complete lab report. The Thrifty *enu pro&ect also demonstrated extreme budgeting and cross utilization, creati"ity, and nowledge and understanding of other demographics, with nutrition in particular. The +ongregate *eal ,esson pro&ect demonstrated nowledge in nutrition and demographic nutrition problems, communication, and leadership. Teaching a large group of unfamiliar people in a setting you!re unfamiliar with is completely unner"ing, but it has made me a stronger leader, because I become more comfortable to ta ing the unexpected with stride. -n example of this is when the participants of the +ongregate *eal %ite interrupt the group lesson to as questions that may or may not be related. This throws our preparations off course and we needed to adapt our thought process to what our patients wanted to learn, especially how it related to our original topic. This also taught me the strength to redirect the con"ersation to the original topic without seeming rude. .ducation aside, throughout my professional experience, with wor ing in "arious restaurants on the

line as well as entrepreneurship with a biscotti business I ha"e pic ed up many of these s ills listed abo"e, as well as garnishing and adapting the s ills I already ha"e. This is especially true in the sense of leadership with my biscotti business, /ella /iscotti. /eginning and running a business mainly by yourself is a challenging tas to complete successfully, and requires a strong sense of leadership and asserti"eness. In the midst of ha"ing information pounded into my mind nonstop and being e"aluated for that recollection (all otherwise nown as college), I disco"ered my true passions and "iews and where those things direct my career path. 0riginally planning on pursuing a career in +ulinary -rts and $ood %er"ice *anagement, after my associates in +ulinary -rts was finished, I chose the nutrition route instead. *any nutrition ma&ors go the clinical route becoming registered dieticians, but I realized it wasn!t the patient aspect of nutrition that intrigued me. The food aspect of nutrition and consumerism is what intrigued me. $ood is my passion at heart, not patients. #ith this said, the welfare of human ind, this earth and e"ery creature that li"es on it is extremely important to me. It is my goal to combine these two passions in my career, through food policy and wor ing within the macroscale food industry on a more corporate le"el. Through this I could not only directly impact consumer!s health and eep the welfare of e"eryone in mind through product suggestions, testing and alterations, as well as mission statements and company standards. 0n the other side of the spectrum, I could influence those company!s by participating in laws and policies passed with the $1- and )%1-. I!"e always been determined and good at arguing and for these reasons I feel as if policy ma ing is my calling. #ithin this career, I ha"e some specific goals I!d li e to accomplish related to my personal life as well as the nutrition field. $ood labeling and the lac of regulation on genetically modified (G*) food is a ma&or contention I ha"e with the current actions of the $1-, )%1- and ma&or lobbyists and corporations. I find it to be a corrupt cycle of selfish, powerful indi"iduals who ha"e only their wallet!s interest in mind, and light needs to be shown on this situation. This facade needs to finally be un"eiled to the public, as it is gradually happening, and discussed in my Topic 2aper. -lthough this sounds li e a

"ague goal, there are some specifics and more specifics that will be de"eloped as my career is further de"eloped. I!m not sure how much of an impact I can ha"e on this goal, but to see labeling required for G* foods or foods containing G* ingredients of greater than 34 within the next few years. The remaining goals regarding policy ma ing are more long term, especially if I plan on continuing for my masters in $ood 2olicy, as well. I!m not hoping this career will only benefit the population of the )%, though. I plan to use this career path as a path out of the country, so I can further my education and career in a more socialist en"ironment where health and food integrity and security is more "alued in the population and go"ernment. - place where the consumers aren!t ta en ad"antage of through false ad"ertising, incorrect labeling, and withholding rele"ant information. This goal could be accomplished through wor ing within a corporation and being able to transfer to an international location, perhaps, as well as many other routes for this goal. /efore I can accomplish these things, there are certain areas in which I require further growth and de"elopment. -s mentioned abo"e, I plan to go achie"e my master!s degree in $ood 2olicy, due to my nowledge deficit with lobbying, law ma ing, and political laws and procedures. I also need to strengthen my research nowledge and abilities. /oth of these things are possible with slightly more education and professional experience from now until then and after. I am always stri"ing for a challenge, and this is a constantly e"ol"ing field. I will always ha"e new information and research to learn. It is how this information and research can best affect the consumers and planet that I hope to be my responsibility.