The Newbie

I started my internship at the Oldham County Cooperative Extension office two weeks late. During those two weeks, I was study dietetics and family & consumer science in Seoul, South Korea. I studied at Seoul National University with nine other UK students.  The massive amount knowledge I gained during my adventure has broadened my mind. Now that I’ve started my internship, I’m able to make valuable comparisons between the two cultures.

It didn’t take long for me to be acclimated into the office. The staff is great and I enjoy their company.  I suffered from serious jetlag my first week back, but some how I managed to help my agent, Chris Duncan, prepare for the annual homemakers meeting and take photos during the event. I spent the entire next day preparing for 4-H camp. Before starting this internship, I had never heard of 4-H camp, but colossal the piles of 4-H binders, boxes, name tags and info sheets told me that it was a big deal. Now, I can’t wait for camp. The entire office as put in 120% effort to make sure that camp runs smoothly at Lake Cumberland. I’m secretly hoping that camp is similar to what I’ve seen on television. You know the, smores, campfires, the game etc.

The following week I went to the LaGrange community center for an after school snack program. I made roll-up mozzarella cheese sandwiches with the students and participated in their games. This program is every other Friday. I also attended the Dare To Care program with my agent. This program serves low-income families and partners with local companies to distribute food to those in need. Since this is national dairy month, we did a demonstration on cheese. We had several kinds of cheese for each person to try. Later, we made a cucumber dip and served it on crackers. I really enjoyed the dip and even took some home for my family to sample. Our Horticulture agent, Tracy, brought squash and zucchini plants for our audience to take home. There were a few plants let over so I was able to take two plants home. I was so excited. I felt like a farmer.

Overall, I have gained a better understanding of how the cooperative extension office works and what it does for the community. I am confident that I will be able to apply the lessons I have learned here to my future course work as a dietetic student.