Bittersweet Goodbyes and Exciting Beginnings

Well, it’s the end of the quarter and the end of my days as a master in nutrition student. I graduate on Monday. You are reading my last blog and my last class assignment. It is has been a bittersweet experience this last week. I have been saying goodbye a lot. I feel very discombobulated and out of sync. My routine, though anticipated, has been turned upside down and I find that what keeps be tethered to reality is all the final projects and exams I am working on and studying for. Because I am graduating and moving on to my dietetic internship this summer I resigned my position as a volunteer chef at the Northshore Senior Center in Bothell and I worked my last day in the Finance Office at Bastyr University. I love all the people I work with in both places and will miss them terribly.

Sharon McCain and her husband Gene at Northshore are wonderful people and if anyone would be interested in volunteering a few hours each week to make soups and/or serve soups and sandwiches in the coffee shop contact the volunteer coordinator at Northshore Senior Center at www.northshoreseniorcenter.org. You won’t regret it. I looked forward to it each week and I will miss it this summer.

The women in the Finance Office at Bastyr University have been very supportive the past two years I have worked there. Each one is smart and friendly and fun to work with and I consider them my friends. I hope where ever I end up working I will have such wonderful people to work with. Thank you Mary, Norma, Shirley, Gena, Anna and Joanne.


I have thoroughly enjoyed my education at Bastyr University. The instructors and staff are highly knowledgeable, dedicated and truly care about the students. I have to mention a few people who had a great influence on me. Dr. Diane Spicer, Basic Sciences teacher: I was lucky enough to be in three of her classes. She is an exceptional teacher and sets the example for other teachers to aspire to. Kelly Morrow, MS, RD is a highly trained and insightful clinician and teacher and I thank her for kicking my butt every quarter. I am a better student and a better person for it.

As I finish this blog and say good bye one last time I am truly grateful to my friends and family and everyone I have worked with or studied with and celebrated or commiserated with during the last few years. Thank you to everyone who has supported me. I could not have done it without you! It is because of you I look forward to an exciting beginning as a dietetic intern and a new life as a Registered Dietitian.

Writing – Not All It’s Cracked Up To Be

I took a course in Writing for Food and Health this last quarter. I had an idea I would write a book on nutrition or maybe a cookbook, or both. I have come to the decision this will be unlikely. I’m actually not surprised. I never have been one to journal or write in a diary for more than a week or two at any given time in my life. I had a hard time finding things to write about that didn’t sound silly or just plain stupid. After taking this class and learning what it takes to write seriously and then actually get it published I found I do not have the passion to be a successful writer. I found you truly have to love it because it is not easy. In this day and age of electronic media it is next to impossible to get noticed and less likely you will earn enough money to make a living.

I admire and support those who do love to write and have a passion for writing. There are a couple of women in my class I consider very talented and they make it look easy. I, on the other hand, struggle and it seems each word must be ripped out of my head and reluctantly put on paper with my hands…it’s exhausting. Give me a vegetable and a knife and I will cook you a meal to die for with my eyes closed. That is my passion, what I do effortlessly and with enthusiasm.

I am glad I took the writing course. The instructor, Terence Maikels, is very good and I learned a lot. But I also learned to recognize when I should step back and leave it to the professionals. I will stick with what I know: nutrition, food and cooking … and reading books of all kinds.

If you would be interested in the Writing for Food and Health course at Bastyr University, go to www.bastyr.edu for more information.

Positive Affirmations or No Such Luck?

As I do at the end of every quarter, I start using positive affirmations to help get through the enormous work load and survive the high level of stress. Some people don’t believe affirmations work. In fact no study has shown conclusively that they work. All I know is that they work for me. You can use affirmations to boast your self confidence or you can use them to help you reach your goals, or both.

Everyone is unique so what affirmation works best you is an individual thing. I believe it should be personal and not necessarily shared with the world. For me, sharing it dilutes the power and meaning by inviting criticism. What works for me will not resonate for someone else and therefore be ineffective. For this reason I won’t share with you my affirmations but just know they are positive and help me to visualize achieving my goals.

People use affirmations all the time, even if they don’t know it. How many times have you given yourself a pep talk before giving a big speech, or during the last mile of your run or even at home finishing up some chore or task you don’t like, but feel better once it is done? You are re-affirming your commitment to finish. Athletes use positive affirmations along with visualization as part of their training. It can be a powerful tool to achieving your goals.

My niece was performing in a play last weekend and experienced stage fright for the first time. Rather than focusing on what could go wrong, I explained that if she thought about how she was going to do well, she would most likely do just what she thought. She didn’t get it at first, but then the light bulb lit up and she happy to know she had more control over what she thinks and feels than she realized. It is an emotional intelligence skill that will help her throughout her life.

So in the last week of class, building up to final exams and final presentations I am staying focused on my successes and concentrating on taking the next step toward the end of the year and graduation. Here is a link to Success Consciousness. It is a web site that provides more detail about positive affirmations, visualization and stress relief: www.successconsciousness.com I wish you success.