First Week in the Upper Peninsula

The first week in the Upper Peninsula at Northern Michigan University has been an entirely new venture from the start of my summer. Just prior to arriving, I studied abroad in China at the Beijing Sport University, so adjusting to the United States 9 hours from my hometown Lowell, Indiana in Marquette, Michigan has definitely kept my eyes open to adventure and change. In 5 days,  I've been sent through a whirlwind of information, tours and fun in the office.

As the week progressed, I had a better idea of my role with NMU Dining Services. Robin Rahoi, the Dietitian in Food Service that I'm working for, has created many great changes with the dining services. Her goals intertwine with the food service staff to provide nutritional information about the menu items online, provide exceptional customer service and most recently, transform the menus to accommodate those with food allergies. That's where my role comes in. My primary task these next 8 weeks is to take apart what allergen program that exists and build it up so there's a solid plan to provide hot and cold menu items for those with food allergies. This plan will also include solutions to problem areas that have arisen as I've interviewed food service staff that carried out previous procedures to deal with food allergies. Prior to being assigned this internship, I had no idea how underdeveloped food allergen programs were at universities across the United States. Now, I'm determined to create a simple, yet effective way to ensure the allergen students safety. Did I mention that I have my own desk to create this plan to?!

My Summer Internship Desk

From day one I got my hands gloved and working in the kitchen. This is a dietetic/food service internship of course! Monday, Robin and I prepared gluten-free meal items to stock the allergen-free station aka the mighty mini-fridge. Currently, Robin takes on the responsibility to make them dishes, which might change after I develop the allergen manual. It was quite fun to get creative and think of ways to use the gluten-free food products. We even made vegan blueberry muffins for the upcoming student orientations. Thursday we were back in the kitchen to make black bean brownies for our official afternoon "retreat." Many of the staff were skeptical about these brownies, but once taste tested, all of them were sold! Who doesn't like[black bean] brownie sundaes?

Black Bean Brownie Sundaes

As I said, the staff of NMU are outgoing and friendly. Tuesday we had a luncheon that allowed me to introduce myself to the staff formally. They were most shocked by the fact that I hate bacon and teach kickboxing at Purdue. I am thankful to have a great staff to work with and I appreciate the welcome lunch.

The luncheon

On Thursday morning and Friday afternoon, I got to explore the town with my coworkers, Robin, Sue and Lexie. The surrounding area itself was surprisingly gorgeous- with clear water, green glass and well-kept buildings. I've scoped out a few places with Sue where we can host the annual staff picnic. [A side project I have is to plan, budget and organize an awesome picnic for the staff- how fun!] The bike trail area takes you through some amazing scenery too. I found out the Temaki and Tea restaurant, created by Robin and now run by Paul of NMU, has fantastic sushi at an affordable price! I was pleased to have a great lunch with awesome people and the opportunity to see another part of Marquette, Michigan.

Delicious Tamaki & Tea

Beautiful Marquette, MI

This weekend, I had the pleasure of being outdoors- enjoying the sunshine and gorgeous inland waters in Big Bay. Robin has a cute house right on the beach. The water is practically her backyard- it's great! Leisurely sitting in the sun in Big Bay has changed my perspective about always having to be busy. That's the most obvious difference I can establish between the Upper Peninsula and the Chicago Region area. I'm used to always moving, completing a task or going somewhere; after all, something always has to get done, right? The people of Marquette have really  [indirectly] challenged me to appreciate that days don't always have to run on a timeline, yet acknowledging that some boundaries need to be made, like going to work on time. I have to admit, I've been frustrated at times here- it takes ten minutes to check out of a store anywhere which I initially translated as people "dilly often." Nonetheless, things get done and people seem happier, so they must be doing something right. I have decided to embrace the difference in perspective and enjoy the unique opportunities I get to experience outdoors and with great people. After all, when you have an opportunity to jump in a kayak and enjoy the settling sun, why wouldn't you go? I might have been uncertain how to navigate the kayak since the last time I was in one was 12 years ago, but once I was settled on the water, I had a relaxing paddle. I'm excited to look beyond the "end of my kayak" and experience the environment around me.

Awesome view from my kayak

Kayaking with Robin

Excited for adventure,

Cassandra