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!