Personal

Statement

Samuel Johnson once stated, Self confidence is the first requisite to
great undertakings. Throughout elementary and high school, I always
had the stamp of approval from my instructors. My parents were always
so pleased with my teachers reports and my grades. Like so many
others, approval such as this became what I lived for. It wasn't until high
school that I realized my self- confidence and self-worth was riding on
outside opinions and, by then, peers had begun to weigh in as well. The
varying outside opinions were slowly deteriorating my own self-
confidence. I began to set goals for myself to formulate this confidence:
running a half marathon, attending an academically challenging college,
involving myself in volunteer opportunities, and pursuing a career in
the health field. Such ambitions led me to look outside my present
circumstances, established my strong self-confidence and contributed to
forming my overarching life goal: to help others establish strong self-
confidence. At the time, I had no idea how much this would contribute
to my future career goal: to become a Registered Dietitian.

In coming to college, I was confident I wanted to work in the health
field. I began my time at Auburn University as a Biology major. After a
long discussion with an older nutrition major, I became aware that I
could pursue a career in something I was already so fascinated by. In
pursuing my own nutritional health, I had sought a mentor while
training for a half marathon in high school and because of this I chose to
do my senior research paper on supplement usage. I recalled my
enthrallment as I learned nutritions role in training. I also recalled a
conversation with an Registered Dietitian who had raved about the joys
of her profession. It then occurred to me I could study what I loved and
still practice as a health professional encouraging others wellness and
confidence in the Dietetics field.

I am fortunate to say that I have received a wide array of experiences
that have reaffirmed my chosen career path. In the area of child
nutrition, I have worked both with middle school students on a cross
country team and with Childrens Healthcare of Atlantas Strong4life
program. Both of these clarified the impact of confidence in children.
This was evident in how the middle school runners lit up when they
improved their time and in their personal development over the cross-

country season. At Camp Strong4life the impact was shown by the fact
after some interactive activities and a week of camp focusing on healthy
habits and setting goals, these children were transformed into confident
kids ready to take on another year of school. My experience as AUBIE-
Eating Disorder Association Vice President and Sorority liaison showed
me this impact for the college age population. People with low self-
confidence are led into a cycle of disordered eating everyday. In
addition, those with low self-esteem tend to look outside themselves to
find ways to garner love and acceptance. This often encourages higher
levels of drug/ alcohol abuse, domestic violence and other destructive
behaviors. I believe if we were to ignite confidence in people it would
result in a large drop in these statistics.
Working with the older population in my health fair and clinical
experience, I have seen the importance of relationships and
comprehensive care in patient interactions. One of the most appealing
aspects of this profession is the opportunity it gives to build
relationships. While working in the Physical Therapy office at
Orthopedics East, I was able to see how the process of healing yielded a
bond between everyone involved. Becoming a crucial part of that
healing process and encouraging a patient along their way through the
bonds of relationship will continue to be my goal throughout
professional practice.
My short-term goals include continuing to expand my knowledge in the
field of nutrition. I hope to be admitted to a strong, diverse program
such as ECU so my graduate studies would be bolstered by an internship
providing experience in a wide range of dietetic practices. Long-term, I
plan to apply my knowledge to a clinical setting. I hope to play a crucial
role in the healing process for patients in the hospital. Providing
encouragement and confidence for people during some of their hardest
times would be my overarching goal.
The past four years at Auburn have given me ample opportunities to
explore my weaknesses and to improve for my next adventure. To
illustrate, I have always struggled with time management. At the
beginning of every new semester, I have found myself signing up for
every involvement opportunity. My family still jokes about the fact I, a
city girl, even signed up for FFA (Future Farmers of America) in an
effort to plug myself in at my new high school. I love being busy and

taking leadership roles. However, as each semester has come into full
swing, I would find myself struggling to prioritize. In the past this
contributed to more mediocre grades (Bs). Nonetheless, taking on 18
hours, three leadership positions and a role on the nutrition team, I
have been forced to learn how to better prioritize my time this
semester.
Struggling to express my opinions has also been a weakness of mine. I
once sat in silence and would think of ideas I could contribute and then
be disappointed when no one read my mind to implement these ideas.
However, I have worked to become more assertive in expressing myself.
Being Vice President of Programs for my sorority put me in a position
that often required my opinions in a vote that weighed heavily. This led
me to learn to prepare my argument prior to presenting my opinions. I
feel this has equipped me to overcome this weakness although it is a
work in progress.

Both strength and a weakness of mine is my strong sense of empathy.
Empathy is both critical and detrimental to health care professionals,
and my ability to feel for others can weigh heavily on me. I do not,
however, think this would encroach on my ability to provide proper
care. In fact, I believe the personal connection would lead me to further
strive to provide the best care for every patient I interact with.

I am confident that my strengths as a thorough, organized and invested
leader would contribute to an internship program in many ways. If
given the opportunity to take part in an MS/DI program I would
contribute my leadership qualities by taking initiative to accomplish
tasks and pursue knowledge. Most importantly, I know I would
contribute to fostering an environment of encouragement towards the
patients I interact with as well as my fellow interns, preceptors and
instructors. I have a strong desire to learn all I can in this field and I am
certain a strong program would provide me with the
knowledge/experience that would contribute to a successful career.