Hello! My name is Kiersten Jewell and I am from Sellersburg, Indiana. I am a senior studying dietetics/nutrition, fitness and health at Purdue University. I have always had a passion for fitness and nutrition. I plan to graduate this December and attend graduate school so I can become a registered dietitian. That is why this summer I interned for Purdue Dining & Culinary! We explored and saw behind the scenes of small and large food service operations.

Hey! My name is Patrick Deal and I am from Sigel, Pennsylvania. I am a senior in dietetics and nutrition at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I am also planning on graduating this December with my bachelor’s degree, followed by completing a master’s so that I can be a registered dietitian. Given the vast array of possible career opportunities in this field, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get hands-on experience in food service operations, especially in a variety of settings.

Under the supervision of Purdue dietitian Molly Winkeler, we spent ten weeks on campus with four other interns. This internship is open to all students studying dietetics, nutrition or hospitality. Our weeks were filled with learning new information on food service operations, field trips and guest speakers.

Our favorite part of the internship was meeting numerous dietitians in different jobs like product development, professors, hospitals, eating disorder treatment and sports. One of the reasons we chose dietetics is the wide range of careers you can choose from. From listening to podcast hosts, seeing how a business was run and even meeting a Taco Bell dietitian, we saw just how wide of an array it can be. This networking allowed us to meet people, ask questions about what they do and see how we can use it to help us as we develop our careers.  

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Interns don beekeeping suits on a field trip to Springboro Tree Farm.

We took weekly field trips to local operations ranging from small and mom-and-pop to large food production plants. Many steps go into ensuring food safety and quality in food service. We made many meaningful connections along the way, especially with each other. This was a special group of interns and we had a great time at Purdue this summer. We recommend you apply to this internship and see what it’s all about!