Week One at University of North Dakota!

Hello! My name is Cat, and this fall I am going to be a senior Nutritional Sciences major at the University of Connecticut. Go Huskies!!! This summer I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to fulfill my NACUFS internship at the University of North Dakota.

I flew out to Grand Forks, ND Monday morning, where I met my internship coordinator, Dustin Frize. Dustin is both the RD and FoodPro coordinator for Dining Services at UND. I am going to be spending most of my summer working with him on various projects. Upon arriving in Grand Forks, we wasted no time getting my employee ID card and getting me checked into the dorm I am staying in. Dustin gave me a quick tour of campus and the surrounding town, before I ate dinner and promptly fell asleep at 7pm. My fear of flying can be a bit exhausting…

Tuesday was my “first day of work” I suppose, which included many, many introductions and more of getting to know campus. On Wednesday, my most notable introduction was to the FoodPro program, which I am apparently going to become well acquainted with this summer! The rest of my week involved a lot of menu organizing and planning using this program. Sitting at a desk most of my day is quite a change of pace from any of the food service jobs I have had in the past! Although punching in recipes numbers for most of my day can be a bit tiresome, I found it so interesting being able to look at any of the food served all over campus! I even got to start organizing a bit of the nutrition facts for recipes, which I found equally as intriguing. 

The biggest project for Dining Services at UND this summer is preparing for the opening of the remodeled Wilkerson Commons, home to one of the dining centers on campus, which is *supposed to* be ready in August.  The new layout involves multiple food concepts, even including an entirely allergen-free section. Much of what I was doing with FoodPro this week involved organizing recipes numbers to match with which concept they are being served out of. 

Everyone at Dining Services (and all over campus!) has been extremely friendly and welcoming to me, which certainly makes work days go by faster!! I am excited to get to know everyone I will be working with over the next 8 (or now 7) weeks!

Aside from my time spent at work, I have been enjoying exploring campus and the surrounding town! I have spent much of my free time at the Wellness Center here at UND, which is home to the most impressive university gym you will ever see, as well as basketball courts, group fitness rooms, a “culinary corner”, and even a meditation rooms! I could probably devote an entire blog post to how incredible this building is.

Although I am the only intern for Dining Services right now, I am learning that there are many other people on campus interning at UND with other departments! My suitemate, Ju, who is from Brazil, is here doing environmental research on oil and gas. Ju introduced me to some of her friends, also from Brazil, who are here interning and Saturday night we went to downtown Grand Forks. They are an awesome group of people and I ended up having a lot of fun!

Dustin was kind enough to lend me his wife’s bike to get around campus, so Sunday I biked along the Greenway in Grand Forks. It is a beautiful path along the Red River—perfect for biking and running! I also walked around a bit downtown; I found a health food store and a few coffee places! I am amazed by how much easier it is to bike when the land is as flat as a pancake. 

                                                     From my bike ride by the Red River! 

This coming week I am very excited be to spending most of my time working at the UND bakery—despite the overnight shifts starting at 10pm!!! Updates to come on how much coffee I consume during this time. Wish me luck!