Name: Nicole Wood
Class Year: 2022
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Killingworth, Conn.
Internship Organization: Plant-Based Dietician Alyssa Fontaine
Job Title: Dietician Intern (private practice)
Location: Whistler, Canada
Award: Class of 1964 Internship Fund
This summer, I had the opportunity to work with Alyssa Fontaine, a plant-based dietician who is based in Whistler, Canada. She specializes in intuitive plant-based eating, sports nutrition, and eating disorders. She also creates content for platforms such as Tiktok in hope of educating her community and building her clientele.
A big component of the work I have been completing is creating balanced, exciting, tasty, nutritious, and simple meals for Ms. Fontaine’s social media platform and following. Additionally, I have been writing blogs posts for these recipes explaining the benefits and nutritional information of the ingredients that are used. All recipes are nourishing and energizing for your body. Other exciting and challenging projects I have completed include collaboration deals, as well as creating online courses.
I was incredibly interested in applying for this internship due to the challenging and exciting nature of the work at hand. This internship provided me with lots of independence. As a result, I have had to overcome multiple challenges, such as recipes not going to plan. When this happens, it can be extremely frustrating, especially for someone who is a perfectionist like me. Throughout this process of figuring out the best solution to these adversities, I have learned to accept that “good enough” should be the goal instead of perfection. This is a goal I would have never thought I would consider or accept. With having this goal in mind, it takes off the pressure and instead fosters creativity and allows you to thoroughly enjoy the recipe-creating process.
In addition to this work, another reason why I applied to this internship is because of the mission of this business: to help people eat better and feel better. One of my goals coming into this internship was to inspire others to make positive changes to their eating habits and help build their confidence, especially for other women who have struggled with their relationship with food and body image. By completing blog posts and creating recipes, I have been able to do so!
This was my first experience with working remotely. As you can imagine it has been an extremely challenging process as motivation to complete your work has to come from within. Fortunately, I was able to use the skills I gained this past semester at Ӱֱ to allow myself to focus on completing projects. All of my classes were online this past semester, so I spent a great deal of time in my room. I was able to learn the importance of creating to-do lists. This practice sets me up to have a productive day and to stay on top of my work. I also tend to use the pomodoro method: 25 minutes on, five minutes off. This technique allows me to have time for mental breaks yet stay productive. Although working remotely is not ideal, I am grateful for the opportunity I have and the skills and the self-motivation it has allowed me to acquire.
Visit the Summer Internship Stories page to read more about student internship experiences.