A Light Along The Way
After a long 6 months, I’ve finally completed my clinical and food service rotations and have officially made it out of the hospital setting! I'm so grateful for the hospital experience I gained at both Marian Regional Medical Center and French Hospital Medical Center; however, I don’t think I can put onto paper how happy I am to be diving into my community rotations…not to mention kickstarting it with CAPSLO – Teen Wellness (aka the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo). This rotation turned virtual when the pandemic started, limiting my opportunity to interact and spend time with teens directly. Nevertheless, I am still so involved and excited about a few projects I get to take on while under the supervision of an amazing preceptor, Jenna Miller.
Jenna is the Wellness Program Manager of CAPSLO and oversees wellness grants and education contracts for improving adolescent and/or employee health and wellbeing. Working alongside Jenna in this specific area gives me the opportunity to create nutrition-related content and wellness promotion programs tailored to adolescents in the San Luis Obispo Community and to employees of CAPSLO. I am currently working on a virtual presentation for CAPSLO employees called Eating for Health: It's Not What It "Looks" Like.
During this presentation, I addressed diet culture, social media, its impact on body image, and how to eat for health and performance as opposed to eating to look a specific way.
Once I started working with Jenna, it didn’t take long to notice her natural mentoring and coaching abilities. She always provides me with excellent advice on how to enhance my projects and she approaches everything she does with both compassion and ambition which truly inspires me. Not to mention, she also teaches fitness classes and runs her own virtual health coaching business. (I still can’t wait to pick her brain on how she does it all!) Her dedication to helping others become healthier and happier versions of themselves is obvious and she does so with both humility and grace.
Jenna began working withing AmeriCorps after college and started an obesity prevention program called Project Teen Health. Helping others overcome adversity through mentorship and a healthy lifestyle has guided her career path and eventually led to her current position with CAPSLO. Jenna’s favorite aspect about her career is when students or clients have ‘aha’ moments and overcome struggles. Jenna grew up in a dysfunctional family environment but found sports as an outlet to cope. The experiences Jenna has gone through allows her to meet both adolescents and adults where they are with empathy as she provides them with the encouragement they need to achieve their personal health goals.
Like Jenna, I too grew up in a dysfunctional family environment. We both found our saving grace in sports at a young age which ultimately led us on our paths of promoting wellness as we’ve seen firsthand how impactful it can be. In my personal pursuit, I’ve overcome self-imposed limitations, built tremendous confidence in my own potential/abilities, and persevered within the dietetic field with the intention of being a light to everyone I meet along the way. Seeing that light in Jenna inspires me to continue my pursuit as I learn from her, gain insight from her perspective and experience, and ultimately
enhance my skill set as a future dietitian.
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