Application Essay for Dietetics Internship Program

Coming from a new country I had to face many challenges. All these challenges made who I am today. When I came to the United States in 7th grade, I barely knew how to speak English. The language barrier posed a serious problem for me. I found it difficult to interact with people. Adjusting to a new country was no easy task. When my family and I came to this country, we knew only one other family. It was even more difficult for my parents who knew virtually no English. They had to learn how to work and provide for me and my siblings in this entirely new country with a completely different culture. Despite having a better background in English, it still took me over two years to become fluent in English. Although coming to America and having

Since I came to America, I made great progress not only with foreign languages but also with my adaptive capabilities. From what I saw, read, and talked with my friends, I realized that I am improving more and more. In the past two years, I learned a lot more here. This experience not only broadens my view but also enriches my life. It changed my life for the good.

Coming to the U.S. has changed my life. Since I arrived at the Newark Airport few year ago. This coming to the U.S. has changed my life forever. Going to school in the U.S. was an important change in my life. Learning English and communicating with people made me know many interesting parts of American way of life. For example, I like to watch a history movie with friends or visit a museum with friends. These can helping me improve my knowledge of the American culture and understanding more English. To having something to interesting is made my life to have fun.

As far as I am concerned, moving to the United States has taught me a lot. Indeed, even though I had already come to this country several times before for vacation, there are a lot of aspects that I had not thought about. For instance, its people, their mentalities, the culture, the system especially in education. When I first arrived, I had a hard time transitioning from the French to the American system. In addition, the

I came to US during my 8th grade and that was a life changing moment in my life. It was first time traveling aboard and that also not for a trip but for to permanent settlement. I was nervous my whole time been in the plane that how I will cope up with new environment and with bunch of English speakers. I got more. When it came pilot call for, that it's time to land on the Detroit Airport, tighten your seatbelts and be relax. As soon as the plane landed on American soil, I knew that this was the place where I’d to start a new life. Even though I knew America is the “Land of Opportunity”, everything here seemed so strange to me, the streets, the language and the people that was my first time traveling abroad.

I was told, at the age of thirteen, that the U.S. was the land of opportunities. My parents came here from Peru, so we could pursue the American dream. Despite the challenges encountered, while incorporating into a new society, my parents constantly encouraged me to overcome any difficulties. They taught me the value of hard work, which is necessary to achieve my goals. Watching my parents work long hours in menial labor jobs for the past 11 years, has inspired me to strive for a professional education.

My short-term goals are to enhance my knowledge of medical nutrition therapy, to gain experiences in all aspects of the dietetic field especially in clinical nutrition setting, and to become an RD. My long-term career goals are to become Certified Diabetes Educator, to engage and serve in community nutrition, and to promote wellness and preventive health care for socio-economically and culturally fragile populations. The U.S. population has become increasingly diverse in ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, I believe that providing patient-centered education with respect on the differences of cultural, religious, and dietary practices are the keys to becoming a successful educator in nutrition counseling and education.

“The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them” (Ecclesiasticus 38:4). This is one of my favorite bible quotes which summarizes my feelings (views?) about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, using food as medicine and balancing good nutrition. Throughout my life I made poor choices pertaining to my nutrition in part by cultural experiences and my personal lack of awareness. One of my biggest challenges growing up was digestive related in which, I have struggled with constipation most of my life. As I did my research in food science, I realized that much of what I ate had a direct effect on my digestive problems. Once I changed my diet, over the course of time, my digestive issues ceased. As a result of my personal experience, I gained wisdom regarding the importance of good nutrition.

In this report it will be analyzing my personal diet. I analyzed myself over a 3 day period. During this period, I analyzed my eating habits on national holidays versus my day to day life. I am a 20 year old female (not pregnant or lactating) I estimate my weight to be 195 lbs. and my height is 5 foot 6 inches. My daily activity level is sedentary. My job is as a leasing professional and in that profession there is some foot traffic but not much. There is also limited heavy lifting. Out of work I participate in limited physical activity. I rock climb on some occasions and attend the gym occasionally. My personal goals currently is to stay healthy. As I lessen my work load I would like to increase my physical activity with strength training and cardio. Pertaining to my nutrition within the 3 days due to their being a holiday I ate more meat than usual. I try to add more vegetables to my diet. Fruit are not often added to my meals due to how quickly they decompose. I eat mostly organic products and limited dairy. I try to avoid bread and pasta and use vegetables as substitute in recipes that require them.

Ten years from now, I want to have a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree and be able to practice on my own and to work with my community, helping families adopt a healthier lifestyle. Getting a graduate degree from this institution, I believe, will help me to enhance my skills and improve on my knowledge about health and nutrition, preventive medicine, and a host of other disciplines. It is my hope that one day; I will be able to open a clinic where members of my community can obtain relevant and timely information on health, nutrition, and a balanced lifestyle.

I was forced to come to America at the age of 13, knowing only Spanish. My junior year career was not pleasant because of that factor. I started off with four classes that were meant to teach me English. I was distraught and confused. I left my friends, my dad, and my life to come here. I was not comfortable at all. I felt alone, but I was not alone, there was another 12 students with the same obstacles as me. Now at the age of 18 I am proud of what I overcame and I can truly say these three strategies assisted me while overcoming my obstacle, Lifelong learning, develop mutually supportive relationship and believing in yourself.

I moved to America from Albania when I was little. English was not my first language so, I had to learn it by practicing my fellow classmates' example. I was a part of HILT, High-Intensity Language Training, in elementary school to help my language barriers. Before middle school began, teachers thought I no longer needed HILT. It was because I had worked hard to get be in the same place most other students were in. In high school, I found things I was passionate about. In my sophomore year, I joined Future Business Leaders of America and became joined the mentor

I had a feeling that this was my type of environment. I knew that I would need a lot of fighting spirit and dedication

I am drawn to the long-term comprehensive care aspect of primary care. Primary care presents the opportunity to “treat the whole person” and develop an ongoing relationship with the patient while allowing me to work with a diverse patient population in a variety of settings. This role aligns with my personal values in regards to health maintenance. I want to be in a practice that places a large emphasis on disease prevention and healthy lifestyle promotion. I want nutrition education to be largely incorporated into my practice. In addition, I want to continue to assist underserved populations as I progress in my medical career, whether it is through volunteer opportunities or as my primary patient population. Within recent years, I have taken

Thank you for agreeing writing me a letter of recommendation for dietetic internships. The letter is due February 15, 2017 but I will be applying to some internships that has a January 15, 2017 deadline. Would you be able to provide it for me by January 10th?