“Cathryn RD!”

“Cathryn RD!”

 

I’ve wished and I’ve waited

And wondered just how,

I would get to the spot that I’m standing in now. 

 

Both great effort and labor

 (and yes some tears have been shed)

To store away knowledge and sense in my head.

 

Now with much satisfaction

And a heart full of glee

I can loudly proclaim “I am Cathryn RD!”

 

My next steps aren’t certain

I don’t know what is to be,

I only know God is faithful, and I am Cathryn RD!

 

By Cathryn U.  RD

August 7^th, 2013

 

 

Yes indeed, today I passed my national RD exam!  What a mile-stone! Praise the Lord! 



RD Exam: Now Kiss!

Maybe its the lunacy of all the studying I have been doing (there is a certain point at which your brain becomes warped and anything is funny)  but this picture cracks me up!

What student doesn't hope that both brain and book will kiss resulting in a thrilling and completely electrifying transfer of knowledge?    But of course, studying is not like that.   :)

So how is  my studying for my RD exam going? Well, thank you.  It took me three weeks to finally feel like I got a groove going and now I find myself coming up to the scheduled end. Not just the end of my test...but the end of a long journey.

So I take the exam next week but no I am not telling you when.  You'll have to just wait and see. :)

Picture copied from the Starving Dietitian Blog (a thought-provoking blog authored by a fellow intern of mine)

Done and Graduated!

As of 11:10 am this morning, I will have turned in my last final and will be officially DONE with my Bachelors of Science in Nutrition with an emphasis in Dietetics!!!! As of June 10th at 8pm I will officially be graduated, after walking across the green and gold banered platform with my (fake) diploma in hand!

Done and Graduated! I can’t believe it! I can BELIVEEEEEVVVVEEEE it! Six years of college… full of growth, amazing experiences, special friendships and countless occasions of sleep deprivation.

One season ended and a new one has begun. Thank the Lord for His blessed provision!

The Answer...

The silence has lasted far too long. It hasn’t been thanklessness that has hindered my fingers from giving updates. The delay began because I just didn’t’ know how to say it. I thought a lot about how I wanted to break the news. I even wrote down various rough drafts…some of which ended up stranded on a pieces of scrap paper at the bottom of my backpack while others still remain hidden in the back of a composition notebook where I had scribbled out an idea before class. After this first delay it was then the shear torrential momentum of this, my very last quarter in college that swept me along with very little time or energy for anything else. Until now, I haven’t had much energy to think of something clever or to even sit and type one more thing on the computer. So now I will abandon all attempt at cleverness and just say it ….


I got the dietetic internship! The one and only internship that I applied for.
As I have had more time to think about what this honor means for me in the next year, a host of emotions have accompanied the news. Amidst all of the happiness and uncertainty, I can whole-heartedly agree with Ruth Myers, author of 31 Days of Praise when she says…

“Thank You that I can move into the future non-defensively, with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead, for You hold the future and You will always be with me, even to my old age…and through all eternity.”’

~ Ruth Myers, 31 Days of Praise, Day 5

God has truly been kind!

20 Questions

It was the strangest game of 20 questions that I had ever played. For 15- 20 minutes, ten sets of eyes watched me as I gave the best answer I could to each other their two quires. It was the day that every applicant to a dietetic internship wonders about and tries to prepare for— interview day. It is the interview that appears (aside from the direct Providence of God) to be the final determiner of your acceptance into a dietetic internship (DI). It is the one chance you have to convince them that the resume, personal statement, GPA and letters of recommendation where all true and that out of the 100+ who applied you are one of the 14 interns they are looking for. It’s a bit of a dramatization but to some people, that is exactly how the game it played. 

So, what sort of questions did this game ask? Here is a sampling of the ones I encountered:

You are in a clinical setting and the patient you want to educate does not speak any English. There is no interpreter available. What do you do?


You are in hospital foodservice setting and the chef is not following the recipe. He substitutes peanut oil for the canola oil called for in the recipe. What do you do?


Describe a time you were criticized. What was it about and how did you handle it?


You are in a community setting and you are counseling a patient with heart disease who does not read at all. What would you tell the patient and what counseling strategies would you use?

I could continue on but you get the idea. While not impossible, the questions where challenging. At times I could feel myself hedging a question because I uncertain how accurate my specific answer would be. While I don’t think I did horribly, I also do not think I “nailed” it. Many friends have asked me what I thought of the interview. “It went well…I think,” is the typical response I give. I felt more confident with my answers right after the interview than I do now, a week afterward when the lapse of time has afforded me the chance to think about the questions more. But that is so often how it is isn’t it?

This entire process of summer internship research, fall internship selection, spring internship applications and now the interview process (notice it is not plural…I only applied to one) has been an incredibly challenging experience and a test on my faith.  Unlike many of my fellow nutrition soon-to-be graduates and Internship-Hopefuls, I am more intimidated by the thought of getting an internship than on not getting one. Terrible moments of fear have gripped me when thinking about an internship and all that it would require of me. Am I ready? Do I know enough? Can I handle the schedule? What if I got into it and hated it? These of course, are the wretched and often debilitating “what ifs” that God does not promise to answer nor offer grace for right now. I am speechlessly thankful for the persistent and genuine encouragement of my family, classmates and friends. God has been gracious in gradually affording me a quiet peace. 

Now that the interview is 7 days passed, I wait 19 days more until April 1st to find out what the clear, distinctive, will of God will be—yes internship or no internship. During that time I am going to wait with a smile, resting in who God has made me today and trusting Him who will fit for tomorrow.  God is good!

Spring Break!

 Yes indeed, it is that wonderful time for the college student...it is time for spring break! Last Wednesday at 11pm I submitted my last paper and wham...my 7 day break began! I am convinced that it is the difficult days in school that make these days so delightful. Mom and I have already been out for a special mommy-daughter-spending time-together-plus-a much-needed shopping day which was fun. We were quite successful, finding 9 or more tops for everyday wear plus a fun dancing dress for an upcoming event (check back on April 1st for more details).

In addition to the shopping trip, I started spending my time chewing away at the "to do" list of things that somehow don't get done during the school year. One such project involved replacing the much abused ink-blotting paper that protected my desk top. I have never changed it since my grandpa made the desk for me over 10 years ago. I've wanted a new one but simply hadn't found one that was thick enough or was the proper dimensions...that is until I stopped by Michael’s Craft Store and found this little "cutting/craft board" that you can cut on without fear of cutting through it. You can see the result below (unfortunately I don’t have a “before” picture, only the “after” one).

The board was a little too tall and a smidge not-wide-enough so I just cut the excess off of the top and hot glue gunned it on the side.  The ribbon was also glueded on to hide the overlapping seam. :) 

School...It begins Again!

2 months…that is how it has been since I last posted! What a shame it is too, since I have had ample opportunity due to my 3 week Christmas break. Oh well. I have been very happily employed, working the shifts that my coworkers could not whenever possible, cleaning and organizing my room (a much needed endeavor), catching up with friends, and reading.


In making the final preparations for my classes that begin on Monday, January 3rd, I have been sending out emails to various classmates, offering to buy a textbook here and trying to sell a workbook there. In one of my emails I described the inevitable excitement that I think every student feels at the start of a new school year/quarter/semester:

"I don't know about you but no matter how difficult the classes promise to be there always seems like there is a little happy sparkle of hope at the beginning of each quarter. It's like a fresh box of crayons... you just want to sniff it, to look at it and to run your finger across the tops of the perfectly pointed crayon tips. Sigh."

Perhaps the Christmas break has made me something of a nostalgic, romantic. Or maybe it is all of my Jane Austen reading (although she never did mention her heroines’ explicitly using crayons that I recall*smile*). But seriously now, I don’t think I am the only one that feels the “little happy sparkle of hope “ at the beginning of the quarter.

To all the students who start school tomorrow I wish you all the best. To all of you lucky students who don’t start until January 17th (or even you wretched people who don’t resume your studies until…dare I say it… February!) I pray you continue to enjoy your holiday!

Finals and Fun

Oh the difference a week can make!

Here is what the night before my chemistry final looked like...

And here is what I did less than 7 days later...

Yes friend, my Summer has begun!

Oh, the things there are to do...some not so pleasant (like bathing suit shopping. Yuck!) and some very pleasant. For example, the Friday after my last final I went to my favorite library and checked out some books. I selected Eragon (on Playaway), and Prince Ombra (never heard of it before but it looked interesting so I snatched it up). I also came across some books written with the intent to inspire want-to-be-writers: Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter and Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine. (You see, deep down inside I want very badly to be a good writer who is worth reading. I figure if I imitate and practice like those High and Lofty Beings who have aspired to excellent authorship I too, might one day learn to craft words with skill).

There are many other pleasant things to do...pardon me whilst I go do some of them.

I just drank $2.30

It was hard not to do considering that my brain happens to be as drizzly and foggy as this Monday morning. My 230 pennies bought me what was the perfect marriage of hot chocolate and coffee. "two-thirds cocoa, one third coffee please. Whip cream on top!"

~*~Photos compliments of Google images~*~

Who might be watching…

“I thought you were a Believer!”
I swiveled from my forward position at my desk to look at the speaker.
The words were repeated, and this time I saw that it was my classmate “David” who had uttered them.
Astonished I clarified, “you mean a Christian?” (You can never be too careful with terminology.)
“Yes.”
My eyes sought for the clue that had lead to his epiphany/discovery on my hands, inside the pages of my notebook and on top of my desk. How did know I was a Christian when all we had talked about were chemistry equations? Flipping my chemistry binder closed I found the answer. “Oh, was it this?” I held up the notebook that had a printed portion of Isaiah 53 carefully tucked into the front, translucent cover/sheath.
“Yes.”
The next several minutes were spent in asking “where do you go to church” and “how long have you been a Christian?” What a happy surprise to find a fellow Christian in my class!

The second surprise came when Kendal, the girl whose desk was directly next to me, looked on in amazement at this instant connection and conversation between David and me.
“Wow, that is so funny. I know a lot of Christians! Seriously, Christians are the happiest people I know. They are always SO peaceful...all the time too!”
Now both David’s and my attention was turned towards her.

“My co-worker just gave me a Bible. I haven’t read it yet because of midterms, but I want to soon.”
“Did your friend give you any suggestions on where to start?” I queried in wonder.
“She said I should start in John, but my Dad suggested Genesis because it has the cool part of creation in it!” I continued to step forward consciously with questions and suggestions while Kendal openly received them until our professor’s presence indicated the beginning of class.

I still am not sure what exactly made David "think" I was a Christian. Whatever it was it was a good reminded to...

Live well…you never know who might be watching!

A college student's WORST nightmare...

...is missing the final exam. This was almost the case...with my classmate. Below is our real "text-versation:" Affer relizing that Mallory wasn't at the 7:am final (and she is never late.) and after completing the final I texted her around 8:o5am. The final ended at 9:00am (note: any spelling "mistakes" are left uncorrected)

Me: Where were yu 4 the final
Mallory: oh my gosh ...comimng
Mallory:I slept through two alrams =/ i'm so dead.

Me: Oh dear u serious i wished i had texted u sooner!
Mallory:I have never woke up late for this class =/

Me:It endes at 9. U could still try and so some of it.
Mallory: i'm on my way -/

Me: BTW...Dr, O is still in the room. I told her u were comming...she understood!

Later...

Mallory: ha i finished before 9=D was a easy final! (sic) thank you for texting me! see you noon tomorrow!
Me:U go girl!

A busy College student in a Computer Lab...

You know you are multitasking...when you tell the classmate on the right about the text formatting in your upcoming group power point and when you tell the classmate on your left that you will look on Black Board to find where that group paper (the one that is due within a few hours.) needs to be turned into.

You know you are facing multiple mini crisis when...the classmate on your right tells you that she "can't find" the power point you both spent an hour working on, and when the classmate on your left opens her big blue eyes wide as you both suddenly discover that your 7 page group paper is only supposed to be 5 pages...MAX!

You know God is giving you His special grace when... the classmate on you right fixes the power point without freaking out, cussing out or breaking down, and the classmate on your left reduces the 7 page group essay with in 1 minute.


Did I just hear someone say they were glad to be out of college?!

My days

I haven’t blogged much (not even to share my vacation pictures from weeks ago. EEK), because I have been one busy girl. School has started, and God has been so gracious in uncountable ways. He has given me strength, wisdom, new aquaintences, and even a new class right when I needed it!

What today looked like…

~6:00 am Rise and Shine (at least I tried anyhow!)
~ 6:40ish am Devotions
~ 7:20 am Bike Ride
~ 10:am Leave for School and Study until Noon
~ Noon eat lunch and attended AG club ice cream social! Yeah baby! Chat with student mentor
~ 1:15- 2:20 pm Study
~3:00pm – 5:00pm Food Safety and Current Events class. (Bum hurts while I sit at desk. Ouch… the reality of my 9.72 mile morning ride sinks in!)
~ 5:30pm dinner with Sis at Panera bread (Fuji Apple salad is my favorite!)
~7:00pm Home at last! Get breakfast/lunch/snack ready for Wed.
~ 7:45 pm Study

I just finished a 360

360. I'm not talking about the degrees of a circle. Quite the contrary, my reference to this three-digit number implies a mostly linear action--sitting straight, looking ahead at a professor and the whiteboard he/she stands before. Yes, 360 are the number of hours I spent in these last 17 weeks behind a desk in a college classroom. Five papers, six speeches. 40 philosophy vocabulary words, and 182 history flashcards later...I AM FINISHED with spring semester '09! 17 units are behind me!

After my last final this morning, I walked around my little community college campus and indulged in some silly sentiment. I almost felt sad. My mom once said that she experienced a certain gloominess when all three of us girls (I suppose that would mean me specifically since I am the youngest!) became potty-trained. No more diapers. No more rashes. No more baby wipe odors that clearly identified her as a mommy of little munchkins. Of course, Mom really was glad that her "diaper duty days” were over. Yet this milestone also meant that her little baby girls were growing up. They would never return to the diaper stage (at least for another 80-90 years! We’ll see). While I certainly felt no sadness at leaving the Huggies behind, today I did feel a twinge of dolefulness stemming from the fact that I will never go backward.

The General Education units I have whittled away at over that last 2 1/2 years only mean that I am closer to earning my bachelors degree. Only two more years to go! But don't "big girls" earn degrees? Don't adults graduate and get jobs? Naturally, there is much more to being a mature adult than graduating with a piece of paper from a college; however, I have been working, studying, and praying to be a woman with a heart after God for years and now I find myself in the very shoes of the first nd in the process of the second.

God is so very good. I don’t know what shape the future will take, but I know God is there!

Happy Summer!

Have You Been to the Writing Center Before?

As some of you know, I was a tutor in the Writing Center at the college I attend. This free service assists college students with English composition, was quite a promising as well as an intimidating challenge! It was one of those tasks that you simply must plunge right into. Forget the dipping your toe in to feel the temp! There was a certain weight of responsibility with so much inexperience! I recall one occasion when a fellow student thanked me for helping him. he ended his remark with, " so how long have you been working here?" Gulp! How could I tell them that I had only been working for three days!

I truly loved this job of encouraging students with their writing. An added bonus was that my own love of the writing process was exercised and strengthened. As part of my training, I wrote journals reflecting on the various sessions that I tutored. Here is a a small taste of one of those journals. This was the seventh, written about half way through the semester. (Disclaimer: this journal has not been edited since it was written. Not surprisingly it has some boo-boos. No, I regret to say that writing tutors are not perfect!)

This week was such an encouraging week of tutoring! This is primarily because of how I have been able to apply the grammar principles that we have discussed with Mrs. Portman. With the knowledge I gained in class, I have addressed errors such as comma splices and run on sentences in almost every ESL paper I looked over. At last, I have been able to give tutees tools that they can “take home.” Now that I have a little more confidence (and capability) in this particular area of grammar, I am bolder in my attempts to explain grammar in general. For example, one ESL student, Adam, had some difficulty properly using of the articles “a” and “the.” I had never before explained the difference between the two so I took several moments to think about a good approach. I didn’t want to just tell Adam the answer. I wanted him to discover it so he would be able to self-correct later. So I asked him, “what is the difference between the sentence ‘I want to look at a dog’ and the sentence ‘I want to look at the dog?’” Adam processed my question out loud. “I guess when you say ‘I want to look at a dog’ you are talking about any dog. When you say ‘I want to see the dog you are talking about a specific dog!” It was an extremely simple exercise but Adam totally experienced the “light bulb effect! ”

I am definitely going to look for more opportunities to show a student how grammar or an idea works by using an example instead of just telling them.

The Simple kindness of the Semester

You guys know those weeks. Some seven day intervals seem riddled with strange unkindnesses. Take the "dude" at school who cussed me out because I was trying to be nice and not run over him (go figure)! By contrast, there are other days that simple kindnesses seem to blossom from under the cracks in the side walk right beneath our feet. Take several Tuesdays ago. My art instructor told us students to plunk ourselves somewhere on campus and do a charcoal drawing (our 2nd ever). I chose the same out-of-the-way spot that I worked at a month prior--on the sidewalk on front of a gnarled tree. The minutes passed by as I became in engrossed in the work of my ebony dusted hands.

"Oh honey your bum must hurt!" I looked up. A elderly cafeteria worker, her lunch in hand, looked down on me with concern.

"Oh, I 'm ok. It really isn't so bad."

"Well, you should be careful honey. You really could get sore from sitting on the hard cement like this!"

"You are kind but I am alright" Trust me, I thought, I have enough padding! NO harm has been done!

The minutes silently slipped by as my arm moved in large strokes, first with the kneaded eraser then with the stick of soft charcoal. Trusting my untrained instincts, I cut out the fingers of light and put in dark shadows.


"Here ya go baby!"

Turning, my eyes met the same cafeteria worker holding a pair of folded fleece pants.

"Now it won't be so bad. Just throw them away when you are through with them!"




By the time she had finished talking, she had placed the soft fleece pants beneath my rump! I was just able to ask her name and say "thank you!" before she rushed back to the cafeteria.

Maybe you haven't been given a pair of sweat pants to "cush your tush," yet I would guess that you personally, have received a kindness of some sort lately. It is a good reminder, is it not, in this Christmas hustle and bustle to think of others more than we think of ourselves.

Once again, thanks Camile.

My last official day of summer was yesterday. That of course, means that today is the official first day of the fall semester.

Many are the feelings and thoughts with which my mind is occupying itself. One of the thoughts happens to be a quote I came across last spring. It is is a very true saying from the dedication portion of my chemistry book. A certain Mr. William Feather is the author of it.

"An Education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't. It's knowing where to find out what you need to know; and it's knowing how to use the information once you get it."

Well said, no? I don't know about you, but it helps with that often forgotten aid called perspective.