Blessings All Around

Hello!

It has been quite a while since I have updated thing thing, eh?

Well, a lot has happened...

I finished up my grueling last semester at San Diego State in mid-december. I ended up graduating magna cum laude with distinction in the major (but don't walk until may). That was a pretty cool moment when I heard that news.

The next step after graduating was to put together all my application materials to apply for a dietetic internship. This is a necessary step to become a licensed Registered Dietitian (which is the only legitimate licensure in the field of nutrition). Because the profession is growing exponentially, these internships are immensely competitive and hard to come by. To put things into perspective, the less competitive internships get about 200 applications and accept 40 interns. The more competitive get double the amount of applicants and accept only 6. Only about half of the people who apply to these internships get matched.

Knowing this going into the process, I knew that I had to make myself stand out. I got my letters of recommendation and wrote my personal statement and made a website (http://amandahibshman.weebly.com). I spent SO so SO many hours working on my application. Eventually I hit "send" and waited 6 weeks to learn my fate. I struggled in the time in between graduating and learning about my internship, because I did not know what my future looked like. I could not answer the question "what will you be doing in 6 months" and it kind of freaked me out.

My number one internship pick was the VA Hospital. It is highly competitive because it is one of the only internships that offers a stipend (of $12,000) instead of having a fee to participate (anywhere between $8,000-$50,000). It is also in an awesome city that people want to come live in...so it is competitive on a national level. Only one SDSU person usually gets accepted each year. Aside from the pay, It has a strong clinical emphasis, which appeals to me more than other internships...so it would have been my #1 regardless. My other two options were "distance internships" that are based in other parts of the country, but I find my own preceptors in San Diego. I was completely prepared to get matched to my 2 or 3 choice...but I was matched to the VA Hospital. I could not believe it. When I saw the computer screen saying that I was matched, I screamed, and cried, and screamed a little bit more. Jeff and I immediately called our families. I still am a little in shock about the whole thing.

Then, today, out of the blue...A woman from the dean's office at San Diego State called me. She said that I have been chosen by the faculty and staff as the "Outstanding Student of the Foods and Nutrition Major" and I will be awarded at graduation, and I get to sit on the stage, and get to chose the most influential faculty member, and they get to present me with an award...all at the graduation ceremony! Apparently it is a really big deal. She asked me to write a 2-3 page biography which will be submitted to a committee. They will then chose one person (I guess there are about ten of us in my college) to speak at graduation. So I have a 1/10 chance of speaking at graduation! How cool is that? Another cool thing, is that I will get special tickets for my family at graduation to sit in a special place (I think it is just down close).

I just feel so relieved. I used to always say "I am kinda good at everything, but not great at anything." I am a good singer, but I'm not great. Same with dancing, and acting, and every other hobby I take up or career path I follow. I have always felt just mediocre. But I finally found something that I really truly to excel at and can be great at...and get acknowledged for! After years (and years) of being rejected in the theatre world, and journalism world, it is so incredible to be so welcome in the nutrition world. I really feel like I have been incredibly blessed and know that this is the path that I should be on. To top it all off, through the nutrition major at SDSU, I have made lifelong friendships with some amazing people.

Anyway, I just kind of had to get this all out there. I am really reluctant to share things on Facebook or anything like that...so all of you get the pleasure :-)