Week Seven at UGA

Week seven concludes the holiday week here at UGA. I enjoyed my Fourth of July kayaking down the Broad River, this time taking a little bit more adventurous route. Afterwards we celebrated by eating copious amounts of... well, Mexican food. :)

Hmm, which one to choose..?

Tuesday found Erin and me shopping with Craig for New England decorations at Hobby Lobby and Michael's. We ended up getting some neat supplies and looked forward to getting a start on putting the decorations together. Afterwards we met with Chef Sam to discuss some logistics about our event.

On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to shadow Katrina who is the HR coordinator for Dining Services. It was awesome getting to know more about her role in hiring new employees, terminating employees, and how to handle employees who take a FMLA leave. She gave us a really in-depth view of her job and I'm really appreciative of her taking the time to explain it all to us. Afterwards, we got our hands dirty with paint as we started painting wooden lighthouses for our event. It took a lot of patience, especially when you're painting a lighthouse for two hours! But I was definitely happy with the outcome. 

Thursday was really exciting because we got to go on a field trip! Craig took Erin and me to U.S. Foods in Atlanta where we met Travis Summers, the director of sales support. Travis was kind enough to take the time to explain his hectic work schedule to us and even take us out to lunch after we got to tour their warehouse. I was blown away by the size of the facility. There's definitely always something going on there! It was such a neat experience. I'm really grateful for all of the networking I've been able to do down here. Afterwards, we stopped for a sweet treat (homemade ice cream) at Mayfield Dairy. It was delicious to say the least.

Mayfield Dairy 

On Friday, we worked at the Commissary preparing some items for catering. Those items included baked beans and strawberry lemonade. It was interesting helping to make some of the food that we had enjoyed just a few weeks ago when we participated in the freshmen orientation. The rest of the day was spent doing more decorations.. everything is coming together!

Erin stirring up some baked beans 

Boiling strawberries for strawberry lemonade

This weekend has been a lot of fun for me because my sister came down to visit. I've had a blast showing her my favorite spots around town and the overall beauty of the city of Athens, not to mention all of the amazing food.

Big City Bread Cafe

Rocking out at Hendershot's

Ringing the Chapel Bell!

Get your health kick on at Arden's Garden

Ted's Most Best serving the most best lunch

"Frozen Fog" from Two Story Coffee 

:)

We're looking forward to the upcoming week as our event is on Thursday. Make sure you stop by for a shrimp and lobster roll!! 

Week Six at the University of Georgia

This has been a very exciting week at UGA! Erin and I have accomplished a lot of progress for both of our projects. We're working hard so that we can put on a good event as well as an informative customer service presentation.

Before I go into detail about our projects, here are some pictures from last Sunday when we treated ourselves at the Independent Bakery and then went to the last show at Athfest, where we saw Kishi Bashi perform. It was such a fun show!

Morning Roll from the Independent Bakery. Basically a cross between a croissant and cinnamon roll. Heavenly!

Kishi Bashi

On Monday, Erin and I met with the executive chef to go over our recipes for our New England event. We made some changes to the recipes before we put them into Foodpro. We'll be serving:

• Chilled Lobster and Shrimp Rolls
• Maple and Chili Glazed Pork Chops
• Summer Squash Lasagna
• Boston Baked Beans
• Rhode Island Clam Chowder
• Cape Cod Salad
• Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Afterwards, we met with the head chef at the Village Summit to discuss when we could test some of our recipes.

The next day, Erin and I got some administrative experience as we shadowed Dianne who is in charge of paying all of the unit's bills as well as processing the invoices. It's a very important job filled with many details but Dianne gave us handouts to discuss the the daily purchase process which made it a lot easier to understand. Since UGA serves so many students, there's a ton of food and supplies going in and out of their warehouse so it's really important to make sure money is going into the right hands. It was great having the chance to talk to her and learn more about the behind-the-scenes work of food services. 

Later on, Erin and I talked to Haleigh to discuss our marketing plan for our New England event. Our hope is to market to the freshman orientation group to get them to come to the event. Who can say no to a lobster and shrimp roll? 

Afterwards, we met with Craig to discuss our customer service presentation. We also completed a strength-finders test which was awesome! It's a personality test that detects your top 5 personality traits in order to help you hone your skills using those innate characteristics. The test chose the following qualities for me:

1. Learner- "A great desire to learn and want to continuously improve."
2. Input- "A craving to know more."
3. Achiever- "A great deal of stamina and work hard"
4. Futuristic- "Inspired by the future and what could be"
5. Connectedness- "Have faith in the links between all things"

It was a really neat experience because I felt like the test really picked out qualities that define who I am. I'm very appreciative of having the chance to take this test!

That night, Erin and I went to a comedy show at Hendershot's. It was a great time and the comedians were so talented!

Stage at Hendershot's

On Wednesday, Erin and I looked for decorations for our New England Event at the Bolton dining hall. The highlight of this day was taste testing our Boston cream pie cupcakes and lobster and salad rolls. :)

Erin getting the pudding filling ready

Baked vanilla cupcakes

Chocolate icing, yum!

I know I'm biased but I have to say these were definitely delicious

Erin getting the lobster salad prepared

Me chopping up some fresh lobster

Our finished product... Who wants one? 

After testing two of our recipes, Erin and I made some changes into the recipes we had inputted in Foodpro. We then met with an assistant manager who showed us more decorations at one of the dining halls. Then we worked on our customer service presentation.

Friday was comprised on working on our customer service presentation and also trying to decide where we should put our decorations at the Village Summit.

The holiday weekend has been full of fun activities like swimming, fireworks, and barbecuing! Happy Fourth of July :)

Week Five at University of Georgia

How is it that we've already reached our midpoint at UGA? The time is certainly flying by!

A nice surprise on my walk to work

On Monday, I had the opportunity to shadow Chris who is the manager of the Campus Eateries, which are basically small convenient shops located around campus where students can grab a quick bite to eat or a drink between classes. Since there are 11 of these locations around campus, Chris' day is packed full with answering phone calls, emails, and driving around campus to the different locations. Over some yummy burritos from Barberitos, Chris told me about his career path and how he got the position he has today. I feel very fortunate to work in UGA's food service department as I hear about the employees' enthusiasm for the self-operated department and experience the close-knit community that they have here. I spent the rest of the day with the student supervisors who are responsible for closing out the campus eateries. They drive to each location, close out the register, and count the money to ensure that it's the correct amount. 

The next day, Erin and I had a chance to work on our recipes for our New England event which entailed going through the department's recipe software, FoodPro, and finding any recipes we wanted to highlight for our special lunch. We're both really excited to have the opportunity to serve delicious dishes such as Rhode Island clam chowder and New England lobster rolls to the dining hall customers. Afterwards, we were lucky enough to partake in a coffee taste test because a coffee company wants their product to be used in one of the dining halls. We got to try iced coffee as well as cold brew coffee and several different teas. My favorite was the iced coffee since it was chilled and sweet! Later that day we met with two of the campus' chefs and our coordinators to discuss our New England event.

On Wednesday, Erin and I met with chef Shelly at the Bolton dining hall who gave us plenty of helpful tips for using Foodpro and writing our recipes. She also taught us about forecasting and using the software to make the correct amount of food based on how many people are anticipated to eat at the dining hall. Afterwards we had our midpoint evaluations with our coordinators (it's hard to believe we're at that point already) and then we had a meeting with Stuart who is the Foodpro expert on campus. He also gave us some advice for writing our recipes and showed us how the weekly production run works. The software can seem intimidating but Stuart did a great job breaking it down for us to help us understand each step as well as answering our questions.

On Thursday we had a change of pace as we worked the closing shift at Bolton. We shadowed three different assistant managers: Nikki, Cole, and Jorie. With such a big dining hall, it's necessary to have all three of them on hand to solve problems and delegate staff, especially during the school year when they serve thousands of students every day. We did multiple rounds around Bolton, checking the stations, especially when they changed from lunch to dinner service. We also worked with the cashier counting the number of campers coming in to eat. At the end of the night, we helped the stations clean everything and shut down for the night so that the morning staff would have everything in place the next day. We also checked the coolers to make sure all of the food was labeled and not expired. 

On Friday, Erin and I had time to work on our New England event which we're really looking forward to so stay tuned!

This weekend was the town's annual Athfest, which is an awesome weekend-long festival with food, vendors, and tons of live music all throughout the town. Since my home town doesn't have anything like this, I really enjoyed experiencing it and seeing how supportive the town is of the local arts. Erin and I also finally had some real deal southern BBQ. Let's just say that we'll be back.

Outdoor Stage at Athfest: Family & Friends

Giant snake slide anyone?

Pulled pork, my favorite

It was dawg gone good to say the least.

We're looking forward to what Athens has in store for us this week! :)

Week Four at University of Georgia

I can't believe that the internship is already almost halfway done. Time is definitely flying and I'm trying to make the most of every day by learning as much as I can and enjoying the dynamic atmosphere that Athens has to offer.
One of my favorite highlights so far about the town is the game board cafe known as Rook and Pawn. Erin and I went for the first time last weekend and marveled at the hundreds of board games they had to play.

Board game galore

Local artwork

On Monday, we had the pleasure of sitting in on the first day of the Manager Academy, held by one of our coordinators, Craig. Craig shared many valuable, important points about what it means to be a manager not just in UGA food services but in all fields. He discussed what leadership really means, such as guiding and inspiring employees, as well as encouraging teamwork and being a people's person. Another key point was to show rather than tell people what to do, as well as be aware of details and always have a goal in mind. He also discussed the different leadership styles that managers utilize, whether it be authoritative or more laid-back. Lastly, he discussed different leadership techniques such as empowerment, motivation, delegation, participation, and feedback. At the end of the day, Craig went over several important policies that the managers needed to keep in mind. Afterwards, Erin and I had a meeting with Craig to discuss our presentation based on customer service.

The next day, Erin and I worked with the catering department to set up the orientation breakfast for the upcoming freshmen and their parents. Afterwards we met with Candice, who is the events coordinator, who told us about her role in the department. She also showed us the software she uses to keep all of the events' details organized. 

Freshmen orientation breakfast. Looks good, right? :)

On Wednesday, we had a very early morning (5am early) so that we could shadow Brian and Josh who work in the stockrooms at the Bolton Dining Hall. We got to learn how their inventory system works and do some inventory ourselves then put it into the system. We also saw a couple of different orders coming into the dining hall and how the team takes the temperature of the food before bringing it to where it needs to go. I liked this day because the stockroom team keeps everything organized and are very receptive to the needs of the dining services team.

Erin getting ready for the freezers

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to shadow one of the assistant managers at Bolton, Henry, and he showed me different opening tasks, such as turning on the lights, opening the doors, taking attendance, and setting up the dining stations so that they would be ready for the customers. He also showed me how he assigns the employees to different stations and moves them around if he needs to. We also did payroll to approve of the employees' hours, making sure that their hours were correct based on whether they are full-time or part-time. Since Thursday was my birthday, the bakeshop created a special treat for me!

It wasn't just completely awesome looking, it was also delicious!

That night, Erin and I went to the Georgia Museum of Art as they had free admission and music playing. 

Georgia Museum of Art

Lastly, on Friday, I shadowed Adam, one of the managers at the Village Summit dining hall. He also showed me his opening duties, as well as how to complete the schedule. It was definitely complicated business trying to figure out how many student employees they would need to hire for the upcoming school year but I enjoyed watching Adam create spreadsheets with different formulas to help estimate the amount of needed workers. We also did two rounds of the kitchen in which he checked the sink's pH level of sanitation, as well as any mislabeled items in the coolers, personal items in the drawers, any equipment that needed further cleaning, and everything else that a health inspector would look for.

For the weekend, Erin and I checked out the Athens Farmers Market which had beautiful produce and plenty of handmade goods. We enjoyed delicious sandwiches from one of the food trucks at the cart as well as amazing coffee from Thousand Faces Coffee. We also hiked around Lake Herrick that afternoon. 

 Athens Farmers Market

Lake Herrick

Lastly, on Sunday, we took a trip to Atlanta to visit the aquarium where we saw a ton of cool creatures!