After graduating from The University of Akron with a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics in May of 2018, over 1,200 supervised clinical hours was completed in various dietetic areas of my internship. Upon studying for my CDR exam, I realized my future as a registered dietitian would be within the community helping individuals to reach their health and weight goals. My current professional goals are to gain experience while coaching individuals to reach their unique goals, and to continue my ongoing education for further knowledge and expertise. My long-term goal is to open my own private practice to help individuals reduce their risk of disease and for improved health.As with many others, you don't just wake up one day and say, "I want to be a dietitian." There is usually a story or two behind that decision. My story started as a child, watching my southern family picking produce from the garden and cooking from scratch. There was no portion control, desserts were plentiful, and there was a lot of heavy sauces and fried foods. As a child, I watched my extended family not only gain weight, but I also saw them taking a lot of medications. It seemed like much of my family had obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and cancer. Over the years, I made the connection of how food and lifestyle affect the body. Many years later in 2013, I not only learned of the role of a registered dietitian, but I overhead a nurse explain that food has nothing to do with a patient's health status. I was shocked to hear the comment come from a nurse. It was shortly afterwards that I made the decision to become a registered dietitian.When I'm not studying or reading about the latest, greatest research, I love cooking, gardening, hiking and biking the great nearby park trails, enjoying being out in nature, coming up with the next home project, and entertaining family and friends at home.