As I reflect on my undergraduate experience at Montana State, there is one statement that I will

never forget: Meet the patient where they are. This means truly connecting with the circumstances,
thoughts, and feelings of a person rather than treating them like a problem to be solved. Each
patient's nutritional needs, knowledge, and preferences are different. When it comes to changing or
reevaluating someones nutritional status, meeting the patient where they are is crucial to transform
their state of health. Being challenged by the patients and exploring new methods of treatment is
something that I look forward to doing in my everyday work of being a dietitian.
For me, the work is personal: When I was in high school, I struggled with an eating disorder for
three years. Throughout this time of relapse and recovery, I experienced how difficult it is to be in the
patient's position. The feeling of being completely vulnerable to the doctors, nurses, and of course,
the dietitian, is an extremely uncomfortable position to be in. Pursuing a career in dietetics, I think its
important to understand how it feels being on both ends of the spectrum, dietitian and patient.
Throughout my recovery process, my passion for nutrition began to blossom, and my desire to enter
a meaningful career path became stronger. By entering the field of dietetics, I will be able to help
patients, like my former self, heal with healthy and safe eating practices by meeting my patients
where they are and defining the best path of treatment for each individual.
Getting the opportunity to work with senior citizens and children in the Bozeman community has
led me to see how crucial health is in both the early and late stages of life. Getting involved in the
community through work, volunteer opportunities, and school organizations has allowed me to
interact with people from all age groups and different demographics. My volunteer and work
experience in healthcare and foodservice has been a great way to immerse myself into a clinical and
community setting. Ive been able to experience the lifestyle of a senior citizen in a rehabilitation
center, an elementary student that participates in the national school lunch program, and a patient
involved in the care process at a hospital.
I have valued my volunteer time spent working with senior citizens and children, but one of my
main short-term goals is to work more closely with adolescents that are struggling with eating
disorders. I strive to become a nutrition therapist in disordered eating and eating disorders in an
inpatient or outpatient setting. Discovering new ways to treat eating disorders is something that will
be of vital importance as we continue to advance in our knowledge of mental illness. Personally, I
found solace in gardening with my mom throughout my recovery of bulimia. Being able to see how
good, nutritious food is grown in a food systemfrom the production of the food to the plate
allowed me to see the importance of wholesome sustenance. It is my goal to create a system where
patients recovering from an ED can work directly with the food to see how imperative good nutrition
is by seeing the process of producing the food that ultimately fuels ones body.
Incorporating sustainable practices into my future work as a dietitian has become an essential
component to my life after studying abroad this past summer. Traveling is such an amazing
experience that has given me the chance to connect with a wide range of people from different
demographics, ethnicities, genders, and age groups. This past summer I had the privilege of
studying abroad in the Czech Republic. During my time in the Czech Republic, I was able to take a
class that focused on the global food challenge and how we can alleviate large-scale problems
regarding the exponential growth of the human race. Outside the city limits of Prague, my
classmates and I traveled to the Knice village. This is the first self-sustaining energy system in the
Czech Republic, which is capable of transforming human waste material into biogas to provide heat
and electricity to the entire village. Seeing the innovation and creativity of integrating the two cycles
of food and waste into a sustainable form of energy production is something that I would like to
continue to explore. I would like to advance in my career of being an RDN by traveling to developing
countries that could benefit from innovative methods of nutrition and sustainability. Being able to
explore this idea could later help me transition back into an educational setting to pursue a masters
degree.
I transferred to MSU my sophomore year and have managed to keep myself busy between two
jobs, being a full-time student, and my active involvement in the womens club soccer team. Over the
last three years, I have developed a great sense of time management but have left myself with

limited time to volunteer. There are so many windows of opportunity during MDI to get involved in the
community and I hope this propels me forward in my mission to get more involved in the
communities where I live.
The Montana Dietetic Internship is such a unique program where the interns get to
experience rural nutrition during their rotations. Since moving to Montana, I have had the privilege to
experience the lifestyle of rural Montana towns such as Ennis, Livingston, and Belgrade. Visiting
these beautiful places has me looking forward to the rural nutrition rotation during the internship. I
believe that it is important to understand the nutritional education received in small towns to big cities
in order to be a more effective and proactive dietitian.
Ive had such an amazing experience at MSU with many professors taking different approaches
to the learning style in the classroom. I have come to realize that I learn best in a hands-on setting
that enables me to problem solve, collaborate, and apply my knowledge. I look forward to beginning
my dietetic internship, which allows students like me to thrive in a setting focused on experiential
learning with lots of hands on opportunities in order to develop my strengths and pursue my goals in
the dietetics profession. My mentors have tailored their teaching styles to meet me where Im at in
my learning careeras both a patient and prospective dieticianand I look forward to doing the
same with my patients as I aim to educate them and improve their nutritional understanding. With my
application to the Montana Dietetic Internship I would love to see my educational experience
continue in Great Falls or Billings, Montana in order to satisfy my interest in clinical dietetics.