Week 5 at MSU

This week Jeanette and I started shadowing the managers at The Gallery. On Monday, I got to do the late shift with the afternoon managers. Chris, one of the managers, showed Jeanette and I how they check out the stations after meals so that the student employees can leave. We also attended the daily meeting with the full time staff. They go over products that need to be ordered and upcoming meals at these meetings. Later in the afternoon, we got to sit in on an interview. The managers are trying to fill a few host positions in the cafeteria. I even got to ask some of the questions and take notes at the interview. It was much less stressful being on the interviewer side of things :) It was interesting to discuss after and see what things Chris took note of during the interview. Late night in The Gallery was pretty slow on Monday, but I did enjoy shadowing Sharon, another manager.

I also tried the sushi for dinner. I think I'm beginning to acquire a taste for it.

Tuesday was a really fun day. We drove up to Ferris State University (FSU). We met up with the interns, Emily and Margaret, and their coordinator, Brenda. They took us on a tour of The Rock, their dining hall. It was beautiful! I was really impressed with The Rock. We also saw some other areas of campus. 

FSU clock tower

We saw a hallway with a bunch of display cases about the history of FSU, a Starbucks on campus, and some of the sporting arenas, specifically hockey. Their hockey team is really good and kind of a big deal to FSU, so we got to see all of the behind the scenes stuff at the ice rink. 

There was a hockey camp using the rink that day

There were bulldogs everywhere!

I'm not sure who this guy is, but apparently he played hockey at FSU and is a big deal :)

We also ate lunch at The Rock. It sure was tasty! They have this awesome mongolian grill station, so I took advantage of that. It was fun to pick out all of my ingredients and watch it be cooked. Not too mention, it was delicious!

Watching my food be cooked

After lunch we listened to a presentation about the upcoming renovations to another dining hall at FSU. It was really interesting to hear all of their plans explained and see the blueprints. There's so much work that goes into planning a kitchen/dining hall!

Jeanette, Emily, Margaret, Me, and Brenda (the FSU dietitian)

I really enjoyed visiting FSU. It's fun to get together with some of the other interns and see a new campus. I'm excited for them to visit MSU this week!

Wednesday we were back in The Gallery working with the managers. Chef Eric was the only manager on duty, so it was a little different than Monday. I started off by making eggs benedict to help out the students. I had never poached an egg before, so that was fun. After lunch, Jeanette I decided to work on our project instead. We got a lot done that afternoon, which is exciting!

Thursday we spent the morning in The Gallery again. Since Chef Eric was the only manager again, we spent most of our time in the front of house making sure everything was good to go since none of the full time managers were there to do it. It was a pretty slow day since it was the 4th of July. I did get to put some napkin folding skills to use for one of the stations.

I was just excited I remembered how to make anything

We did some more project work in the afternoon, and then it was time to celebrate America! Jeanette and I met up with some of her family at a Lansing Lugnuts minor league baseball game in downtown Lansing. The weather was great, so it was really nice to sit out at the game. After the game was over, we watched the baseball stadium's fireworks. It was a pretty good fourth.

At the game

Jeanette and I enjoying the baseball game

 Jeanette took Friday off, so it was time for me to fly solo. I spent the morning doing project work. I got quite a bit done on the menus. I spent the afternoon in The Gallery doing pretty much the same things we had been doing all week. It was a very slow day because of the holiday weekend.

Overall, week 5 was great! Can't believe how close we are to being done here.

First Week at FSU

Today marked one week exactly since I arrived at Ferris State in north west Michigan. The drive coming up from Pennsylvania was beautiful-- lots of farms, open fields and great landscaping. Once Emily (my internship partner) and I arrived, Brenda (our internship coordinator) and Abigail (Brenda's student assistant) drove us around the campus and surrounding the town. For being in such a small town there's a lot to do and see-- I've already made of bucket list of things to do before the end of July!

At the Michigan Welcome Center-- after 9 hours of driving!!!

Awesome goodybag courtesy of Brenda :)

After touring the campus and dining facility ("The Rock") for a day or two, we were put to work! I've gotten a chance to meet with the overall director of The Rock as well as managers, cooks, and student workers. Every day our schedule is packed full of fun, unique, and sometimes exhausting activities (Thursday I was at the bakery at 4am!!). Our internship is centered around The Rock, and by the end of the 8 weeks we will have been put in charge of supervising and managing the facility, so to get acquainted Emily and have been working different stations within The Rock. The Rock is set us as an all you care to eat facility with differnet themed stations; students with meal plans can come and go as they please (unlimited access for one price). What makes The Rock unique from other dining halls in college is the large amount of locals that dine there as well. We've been told that people have driven 50+ miles just to experience FSU's dining program and sales have increased almost 150% because of the community diners.

Display plates of all the menu items are arranged 3 times a day.

On Friday night I worked at "Grillin' Out", cooking up some great steaks as well as garlic toast and corn.

Yumm!

After a long week of hard work, Emily and I decided to explore the downtown area. Not too far from campus there are a few blocks filled with great places to eat, fun thrift stores and regular clothing shops. Probably what stands out the most about FSU is the pride the community has for it. FSU's mascot is a bulldog, and different statues and interpretations can been seen all throughout campus and downtown.

An awesome country store with homemade fudge and candy apples.

I've already learned and seen a lot at Ferris State, I can't wait to see what this upcoming week has to offer!!