MSU Denver students majoring in Human Nutrition, are eligible for the Health Resources and Services Administration Scholarship to receive assistance for covering college costs.
The MSU-Denver HRSA program offers participants opportunities to be involved in various activities throughout the academic year and Human Nutrition majors are encouraged to apply when the application is open.
It was August, when Ann Diker, a professor in nutrition, greeted everyone and share with students the opportunity to be able to attend the Academy of Dietetics Nutrition Conference that is held annually, along with various other semester activities.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the world’s largest organization of nutrition and dietetic professionals that are dedicated to improving the health of the nation by advancing research, education, and advocacy through conferences such as the annual Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo conferences.
This year the conference was being held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver and with not much time left, Dr. Diker was making a list of those interested in attending to develop a plan for acquiring funding to attend.
With a conference date of Oct. 7-10, the interested scholars would need to work together to put a presentation in order for the travel board and a call for team leaders was sent out and I decided to answer the call.
I am in my senior year of the nutrition program, and I felt very fortunate to be grouped with five other HRSA scholars that I have had the pleasure of working with in previous courses throughout the program.
I met with the consultant for the travel board and received the requirements needed for the group presentation and scheduled a group meeting so we could get to work.
Morgan Adams, Jessica Moore, Janae Parsons, Shannon Dooley and myself, David Morrison, have thankfully all had previous experience working together in courses. After meeting, we were all excited to put this presentation for funding together so we could attend the conference.
With a short deadline, we all worked together and were able to complete a group presentation to submit to the travel board on Sept. 5
It seemed to take a longer time than usual to hear back from the travel board on if we had acquired funding or not with the conference date soon approaching. On September 28, 2023, we received a word about funding, “Your presentation was persuasive, articulate, and very well prepared.” The HRSA Scholars had acquired the funding to go to FNCE!
It was now time to prepare for all the various activities that FNCE has to offer and Janae Parsons said, “I will be able to take my knowledge from the sessions I attend to educate my peers on how to get engaged in the community and why networking is so vital to us as nutrition students and aspiring professionals.”
Jessica Moore said, “I will use this experience to further my knowledge of what is impossible in my current career path and integrate those possibilities into my professional goals. I want to focus on what is happening in the world of nutrition as it relates to diversity, inclusion, and minority community health…”
“A personal goal would be to talk to different people about career and intern opportunities, so I can continue to move towards my goal of becoming an RDN in the best way possible for myself,” Moore said.
The HRSA Scholars were able to have that opportunity during the Center for Career Opportunities event on Oct. 9. Students were able to meet face to face with potential employers’ educational institutions to find out more about advanced degree programs and employment opportunities.
Students were also able to take advantage of the Student Lounge to connect with fellow students and practicing RDNs and NDTRs. This was a perfect opportunity for Morgan Adams as she said, “I would like to expand my opportunities for professional growth in the field of nutrition and dietetics by networking and getting to know others within the varying careers…”
Adams said, “Another goal of mine is to learn more about both the sports performance side of dietetics as well as the mental health side and how they both tie into each other and nutrition as a whole.” She hopes to continue to pursue an MS in Nutrition and Dietetics to become an RDN.
For myself, the experience of working as a lead to present to the travel board, working with students to achieve a common purpose, and acquiring the funding to attend the conference has been an experience and if it involves nutrition I would do it again.
This article was submitted to The Metropolitan by David Morrison, an MSU Denver student and a host of Met Radio podcast, “The Standing 8.”
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