I was unhappy as an accounting major at the University of Central Florida. I’ve always been interested in healthcare, and I wanted to change my major to reflect that. Then, over winter break, I walked into a cute little teashop in Orlando and ordered a lavender crème tea. When I asked the barista if there was milk in the crème, she said “No, but we can add milk powder.”

We got into this whole discussion about milk powder, and then I took a step back and said, “Wait, how do you know so much about food?” And the barista said she wanted to be a dietitian. So, I spent the rest of break researching dietetics and learning how much I could do with the field, especially learning and educating the public on sound nutrition research. I wanted to improve people’s relationships with food. I knew I loved food, but I had never thought of this interest as a gateway to a profession.

To become a registered dietitian, I knew I needed to switch to a didactic program, and the University of Florida has always been my dream school. Without finding my true passion, I would’ve never made it here. I’m so happy that I used my resources to switch majors, even if I had to nearly restart my education again.

Aside from switching career plans, I’m still grateful for all the accounting skills I learned. I use them in classes all the time. When I volunteered for the head dietitian at Shands, I actually ended up doing accounting for their nutrition formulas! Being well-rounded really pays off when I use my education in real-life situations.

I will be a dietetic intern at a program emphasizing public policy. I want to make a difference in public policy and consumer safety from a nutrition policy standpoint. That may mean working for the public sector or the private sector—a place where I can work in advocacy and lobbying. I’m also considering going to law school to give me a thorough background in law so that I can more effectively alter nutrition policy, or perhaps a Master’s in Public Health or Public Policy. Recently, I’ve developed an interest in child nutrition policy and expanding current policies to benefit children and the way they eat. I love Washington DC and California, so I aspire to live in one of those areas.

I love to cook for my friends and family, although I don’t do it as often as I’d like. I also go to the gym and do yoga on a regular basis, but I’ve also been making an effort to go beyond my regular activities. For example, I just did a surf trip with the UF Surf Club—I love going to the beach and doing any sort of water sports, like kayaking or paddle boarding.

I also love to travel and explore other cultures through art, cuisine, and photography. Electronic music is my favorite type of music to listen to. Finally, in my free time, I enjoy calling friends and family, which has helped to ground myself here in Gainesville.

I love cheeseburgers! If I have a craving, it’s always for a burger. As a kid, when I went to my grandparents’ house, my grandmother would always walk down to McDonald’s to get a Happy Meal for me. That was our thing. I don’t eat McDonald’s anymore, because their burgers make me feel terrible—knowing this also increased my interest in learning about how food affects the body. Now, I usually go to BurgerFi or Shake Shack in Orlando. One of the most notable burgers I’ve eaten recently was a cheeseburger bao at Disneyworld’s Animal Kingdom. It was a cheeseburger in the form of a steamed bun, and the sauce mimics my nostalgic McDonald’s burger sauce.

In a distant second would be ice cream, particularly anything with shortbread or cinnamon.