Montana State University Week 3

Big week this week!  Kyle arrived on Sunday and we've already had a lot of fun.  I'll let Kyle introduce himself and then we'll tell you about our week.  -Rebecca

     Hey! My name is Kyle Johnson and I finally made it up to Bozeman to join Rebecca for my first week of the internship. I am 21 years old, I go to California State University-Chico and have just completed my fourth year. Bozeman is long shot away from California, but so far I am enjoying the outdoor paradise that it provides, and I am having a blast getting to know everyone in the Food Service program here!

      On Monday we went to Yellowstone and toured Canyon Village kitchen and got to see a lot of the park.

 

     On Wednesday we sat in on a meeting to cut equipment from the plans for the new dining hall to bring the project into budget. Hours later, some cuts had been made.  A day later, a new meeting was scheduled to make more cuts.  It was very interesting to see some of the process of building a new building. 

  

On Thursday we went to visit a local green house that grows the best tomatoes ever. These pictures don't do it justice.  It was incredible.

  

     We also went to Bozeman School Districts cook/chill operation where we get some of our products from. This operation was the cleanest and most high tech kitchen we have ever seen. From the automatic can opener to the computerized expiration date labels they put on all of their products. They even had power washers in the walls to clean the floor and equipment. There was way too many things to take pictures of.

 

     On Saturday we found a point of interest on campus that we felt compelled to take a picture in front of.  

Spirit, the Bobcat

This week's lesson from Paul:  Don't fake it 'til you make it.  Take opportunities that are new, challenging, and present situations that you may not know what to do. However, don't act like you already know what you're doing.  That creates problems.  Be willing to admit that you don't know, and then be willing to ask questions and learn. 

Week One at University of Georgia

Hi there. My name is Maura. I am one of the NACUFS summer interns who has the privilege to work at the University of Georgia this summer. I will be learning about how the dining services works on campus through different rotations over the course of 8 weeks.
Today's already my 5th day in Athens and I only have positive things to say so far! Coming from the North where people can be a bit aloof, the folks down here have really exemplified southern hospitality by extending their advice on the area and their warm welcoming. I feel very fortunate to be working with such a friendly staff this summer.
The first day consisted of meeting one of the coordinators, Craig, as well as the other intern, Erin, and moving into my dorm. We had lunch at one of the dining halls, the O House, where you have your pick from anything from fried chicken to Mexican to stir fry. We had the opportunity to meet several members of the dining staff at the O House. Shortly after, Craig gave us a driving tour of the surrounding area which has a lot of different department stores and restaurants.

What a nice welcome gift!

The next day, Erin, Craig, and I met with our other coordinator, Kris, who gave us a tour of the food warehouse as well as went over the intern handbook. She also explained our various projects that we'll be partaking in this summer. All of the projects sound like a lot of fun and I can't wait to get started on them. Craig gave us a walking tour of UGA's huge, but beautiful, campus, showing us lots of great resources, such as the fitness center and library. He even showed us UGA's famous Arch. I love how historic the campus is.

 Feeling very official :)

By the end of my second day, I had already had the pleasure to see a good amount of the campus and even go to the town pool only a few minutes away!

On our third day, we attended a manager retreat that Craig had planned with various members of the dining staff, about twenty-three of us in total. It was probably the most fun retreat I have ever been to! We started off by playing an icebreaker game in which we had the chance to get to know each other a little better. Then we went to The Escape Room in town where we were split into groups and had an hour to solve the puzzles in the room in order to get out. It was so much fun and definitely the best team-building game I've ever played. Our group came in second place by a matter of seconds! Afterwards, we sat in on the meeting held by the director. It was so interesting to get to hear the different managers discuss issues they are currently facing and how they were planning to come up with solutions for things such as balancing their budget. It was an overall great learning experience.

That night, Erin and I checked out the downtown area and indulged in some decadent donuts from Zombie Donuts which I definitely recommend!

So far for this weekend has consisted of enjoying a delicious breakfast at Mama's Boy, hiking a 7-mile trail at the Sandy Creek Park, and enjoying awesome food from Cali n Tito's as well as Ideal Bagels. I can't wait to see what next week brings as it will certainly be a busy, hands-on couple of days.

 Worth the wait!

 Best biscuit I've ever had

Delicious "Dottie" bagel

UGA Week 1

Hello, My name is Erin Bridgman, and I recently graduated from Keene State College with a degree in Health Science: Nutrition. Although I have spent the past four years studying nutrition, my true passion lies within the food service industry. I am currently spending my summer months at the University of Georgia in Athens.

After only being here for five days, I have already learned two very important things: it is going to get VERY hot, and I need to visit Chick-fil-A because it is a staple!

My first real day at UGA was spent getting a tour of the campus, which I very quickly realized was absolutely beautiful. We spent most of the day getting a glimpse of this large campus, seeing not only the parts that we will be spending the most time in, but also getting an idea of the more historical and touristy aspects of campus, and meeting dozens of people that we will be working with over the summer. We also got to eat at one of the many dining facilities that they have on campus, the Oglethorpe Dining Commons, or more commonly called, the O-house.

Outside the Miller Learning Center

Sanford Stadium

Mary Lyndon Hall

Academic Building in North Campus

Day 2 was spent in a managers retreat, where we played an ice breaker game to get to know our co-workers better, solving puzzles to get an understanding of how to work together as a team, and we even got to participate in a real life escape room! Our group was divided into three smaller groups at random, and were assigned a room. Ours was a detention themed room where we had to find clues and solve multiple puzzles in order to escape from the room before the teacher returned. Our team ended up coming in second (but only by a couple of seconds!).

I found the managers retreat to be not only fun, but also very informational and unique because we got to experience what it is like to be in a meeting where real life issues and situations are discussed. Some of the main points that I took away from the meeting included, when you are a manager, it is really important to get to know your employees, and that not everyone learns the same way that you do, so it is important to take time to explain things in detail. I also learned that there are four important steps to take when teaching someone something new. These steps include:

1. Verbally explaining how to do the task at hand, and showing the person how to do it
2. Having the person perform the task under supervision
3. Having the person perform the task without supervision
4. Having the person teach someone else how to perform the task

After our first couple of days at in Athens, it was soon the weekend! We spent time exploring the downtown area, eating breakfast at one of Athens most popular breakfast places, Mama's Boy, and taking a 7 mile hike around the Sandy Creek Park Lake (Lake Chapman).

Lake Chapman

Over all, I would say that is has been a pretty amazing experience thus far in Athens, GA and I can't wait to see what else is in store!

My Second Week at Montana State University

I had another busy and exciting week.  I have never been so happy to work 11 hour days in my life.  I am really fortunate to be here in Bozeman and doing this internship, and I fear my time here is going to go by entirely too fast.  Here is a summary of some of the things I did and saw this week.


1. Hiking- Bozeman is gorgeous with mountains surrounding the city.  I will have plenty of hiking to do this summer, and I was actually able to get a little hike in last weekend despite the nearly relentless rain (and even snow).

2. Roller Derby- I was invited to a Roller Derby Bout that took place during my first weekend here.  Similar to this internship, roller derby is all about working and playing hard.  That sport is intense, strategic, and very fun and silly at the after party. 

3. Stapling- I have finally learned how to staple correctly.   Apparently fanning the pages allows you to turn pages without fumbling or having to wet your finger.  This internship has already changed my life.

4. Bread Cutting- We had another cutting this week, this time for bread.  I arranged to have samples brought in of different kinds of buns, gluten free products, and dinner rolls for the chefs and managers to take a look at, try, and decide what they are interested in ordering. 

Catering liked the giant hamburger buns and will have giant burgers on the menu for football games this fall. 

4.  Miller Dining Hall- I had a tour of Miller Dining Hall and I was impressed by their system of lines supplying soda to all of the drink stations (there are four of them) in the dining hall.

6. Unicorn Cuts- The Executive Chef, Martin, brought this to my attention this week. It's in our internship binders along with the other information about cuts of meat. 

                                                              I love this. So much. 
 


7.  Owls. I was walking across campus this morning, on my way into work, when I had to stop and have an impromptu photo shoot.  The MSU campus is beautiful, and it just got better.

This Week's Edition of Lessons from Paul:  Even if you don't think something is important or applicable to you, learn it anyways for the challenge.  You never know when you may need that skill or knowledge. 

-Rebecca

My First Week at Montana State University

     Hello, my name is Rebecca Armstrong. I am a senior in the Dietetics program at Idaho State University.  I have the wonderful opportunity to be a NACUFS Food Service Management Intern at Montana State University this summer, and this blog contains the highlights of the many things I am experiencing during my time here. 


     The motto of the internship here is to work hard, play hard, and sleep when you go home.  That would be an accurate statement of how things go around here, and I am loving it.  So much has happened already (and we're just getting started) so here are 5 things I enjoyed in my first week:


1.  Kale Salad-  On my first day here, we had a meeting and a cutting (which I learned is the term for checking out product) with Spokane Produce.  Spokane Produce had a lot of great things to show the managers and chefs here at MSU, including a kale salad that I loved.  I was able to take the leftovers home with me, and I wasn't even mad that I ate kale salad for 5 days in a row.  It was amazing.  



2.  FSA Food Show- On my second day here I got to go to my very first food show.  I tried a lot of different food and beverages, learned that brokers exist, and met a lot of people.  After the food show I got to sit in on a meeting where I watched the process of creating new products as the rancher, the processor, the distributor, and the end user (MSU) discussed new meat products.  That meeting was an education in and of itself as I got to observe the process, dynamics, and interests of each party involved. 

(Thank you to Priscilla at FSA for the picture, I had a mishap with my phone and lost all of my pictures from the food show.)

3.  Nice People- I have been very welcomed by everyone at MSU, and everyone I have met in Bozeman is very nice.  Seriously, people here are ridiculously nice. 



4.  Kombucha on Tap- I visited the Bozeman Community Food Co-op, and when I saw that they have kombucha on tap, I knew I had died and gone to hippie heaven.  (I have since learned that a kombucha bar has recently opened in Bozeman, so I will be checking that out too.) 

5.  The Office- Apparently people here really like The Office.  I have heard references to this show from several people in a short period of time.  This leads me to believe that I have found my people. 

I feel that a regular feature of this blog needs to be highlights of things I have learned from Paul, my preceptor.

Lesson of the Week: Don't pay attention to the delivery, pay attention to the message.  You can lose a lot of good information if you're focused on the delivery.  Someone may seem abrupt, or even mean, but you have to focus on if what they are saying is true or has any value. 

-Rebecca