Kaity Deaner

 

Image: April’s goat, Sage, who we brought to the local elementary school.

Hi everyone! My name is Kaity Deaner and I am a rising senior at the University of Maryland, College Park, majoring in Nutrition and Food Science with a concentration in dietetics. In the future, I aim to attend graduate school to obtain my Master’s degree in nutrition, and I hope to be accepted into a dietetic internship near the DMV area. As for my career goals, I intend to become a registered dietitian and work within the community.

Over the next ten weeks, I will be interning at Cecil County’s Extension Office under the guidance of April Barczewski and Beverly Jackey. April is the 4-H Youth Development Agent for Cecil County, and Beverly is the Family and Consumer Sciences Agent for Cecil, Kent, and Queen Anne’s Counties. 

With April, I will be involved in various 4-H-related events and activities, including helping with the Cecil County Fair. This week, for example, April and I visited the Boys and Girls Club at a local elementary school, accompanied by one of her goats, Sage. It was an enjoyable experience that allowed me to see firsthand the positive impact of animal-assisted education on children. I also had the opportunity to meet with the 4-H leadership team in Cecil County during one of their meetings, which provided me with valuable insights into the organizational aspects of 4-H programs.

On the other hand, my work with Beverly will focus on programs such as Dining with Diabetes and Fresh Conversations. This week, I have selected a few recipes from the Dining with Diabetes cookbook to film and demonstrate, a task that involves researching the best practices for filming cooking videos to ensure they are both engaging and educational. Later on, I will assist in teaching some of the Fresh Conversation classes, which offer a platform for discussing healthy eating habits and lifestyle changes.

This internship is essential to my growth academically and professionally. I'll be able to get more hands-on involvement both with nutrition and the community, which can help guide my future endeavors in dietetics. In addition being able to network with professionals in the field I'm interested in will help guide my career further. In terms of my personal growth, I love being involved and connected in the community and this experience will allow me to do that. I'm so excited to work more with Extension and I'm looking forward to learning more from both my mentors!

This internship is essential to my growth academically and professionally. I’ll be able to get more hands-on involvement both with nutrition and the community, which can help guide my future endeavors in dietetics. In addition, being able to network with professionals in the field I’m interested in will help to guide my career further. In terms of my personal growth, I love being involved and connected in the community and this experience will allow me to do that. I’m so excited to work more with Extension and I’m looking forward to learning more from both my mentors!