Texas Tech- Weeks 4&5 (Catering, Training, Marketing, and Dietetics)

Week 4

At the start of this week, the dietitian Mindy assigned us with a “Week in a Glance” project, similar to what we dietetic students have done during class. The project is essentially creating a week day menu for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snacks (but not beverages).

The parameters for my “Week in a Glance” were as follows:

1. for the TTU Student Union Building

2. Vegetarian Diet

3. (self-imposed) 1600-1800 calorie days.

I was surprised it took almost two full work days to complete. First I had to go through the online menu and nutrition facts for every dining concept in the SUB and look for vegetarian options. I then started arranging the ideas for different meals. The final part was to sum the calories, macros, and fiber for each meal and day.

Mindy helped by taking me to the Student Union Building on Tuesday so I could see in person what I’ve been planning. I realized I had more snack options and also could better understand what the concepts have to sell.

Mindy had all four of us interns complete the project for different locations that week. She says she is interested in distributing our Week in a Glances to her clients, especially the ones living on campus, who want meal ideas.

Since I’m not vegetarian, this was a good challenge. I do appreciate non-meat protein sources because I don’t buy much meat while I live on campus, both here at TTU and at Auburn (my school). I’m pleased with my 1600-1800 calorie days reaching more than 60g of protein.

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The second part of the week was with Marketing. Megan and I spent one morning visiting different marketing employees, learning about what they do for the department. We also spent two days working at the Red Raider Orientation, talking with incoming freshmen and their parents about how TTU meal plans operate. I love working with freshmen at my university; I felt right at home.

When we weren't with someone from Marketing, Megan and I had time to think about our Captsone project.

Our Capstone project is in two parts. First, we worked on developing or modifying gluten free recipes that the new gluten-free facility will make this fall. Second, we will create an opening event for the venue. “The sky’s the limit!” says our superviser.

A few weeks ago, I didn’t appreciate why we had started working on the Capstone project so early. Now I understand. That would have been too much work for the week we have set aside to work on the project. As of right now, we feel pretty confident about our progress.

Week 5

This week, Megan and I worked with training and catering. Training has great Title Nine and Clery Act videos. Catering was neat to see because I knew so little about it. We learned about the whole process. They showed us how they enter their event information into their catering software and interact with the clients. We also looked into how the financial side of catering works.

We had a very detailed tour of the massive catering kitchen. In the end, we were driven around to different catering sites (some were preparing to host events that afternoon!).

All in all, the catering staff was modest about their jobs, but the numbers they mentioned for their events just in the last two months were staggering.

Next week, we will be 100% working on our Capstone Project! Our presentation is July 11th!