Dietetic, Personal Statement Example

Our experiences and observations while growing up often shape our career choices. I have always been an acute observer of my surroundings and it was apparent to me as a child that child and adult obesity was a common occurrence in my family and the community. I also noticed that even some family members with healthy weight in their young age suddenly gained weight as they entered adulthood. This was also puzzling for me because there was no shortage of health clubs, commercial products that claimed to help users achieve perfect bodies, and exercise programs that all claimed to be revolutionary. It seemed as if nothing worked and maintaining a healthy weight was also a matter of luck. But as I researched the issue on the internet, read books by health experts, and talked to people, it became apparent to me that the role of a balanced diet in maintaining healthy weight cannot be overstated yet most people are unaware of this fact. In fact, proper diet is the easiest and arguably the most effective key to a healthy body and doesn’t even require expensive financial and time investments like other alternatives such as physical exercise and commercial dieting programs.This is why I decided to pursue a career as a dietitian because it doesn’t only match my interests and strengths but will also allow me to make a positive difference in the society.

In addition to health and dieting, I also read on other issues and the insights gained have only given me confidence that I have made the right career choice and the demand for professional dietitians will only grow over time. The popularity of commercial dieting fads is a dangerous trend but on a positive side, they also indicate the fact that awareness regarding the importance of diet in a healthy lifestyle has been increasing and this presents amazing opportunity to the dietitians to take a leading role in educating the public.

I have also decided to become a dietitian because their services will be increasingly in demand due to changing health trends. First of all, there has been a growing emphasis on preventive healthcare because not only it increases the quality of life of an average person in the society but also helps keep the healthcare costs down. As the population ages, there will be even greater demand for professionals like dietitians to help people live healthier late into their lives.

While it is important to choose a profession that one finds interesting, it is also important to choose a profession that fits in with one’s interests and capabilities. My academic performance demonstrates the fact that my skills and strengths are suited to the profession. Even during internships, my superiors praised my performance and encouraged me to invest more in academic and work experiences in order to realize my true potential over the long term. Thus, dietetic is the perfect career choice for me because not only I will do well in it but my personal values are also in line with the mission of the dietetic profession.

Even though I have acquired both academic and work experiences that have helped me build a strong foundation for the career, I believe it will not be wrong to acknowledge the role of my personal experiences in preparing me for the career. My personal experiences have helped me realize the true costs to the individual as well as the overall society when the importance of a proper diet is ignored. Thus, it has become a personal mission for me to promote healthy dieting habits, both in personal and professional capacities.

As far as my academic experiences are concerned, my undergraduate degree in nutrition will not be the only education that will prepare me for the profession but I also hold an undergraduate degree in psychology. I have already realized the importance of an academic background in psychology through my professional experiences. A dietitian’s ability to provide practical and effective solutions to his/her clients also depends upon how well the dietitian understands his/her clients and knowledge of human psychology proves really beneficial in this regard. Just as the ability of business to provide effective solutions to customers also depends upon how well the business understands the needs/problems of the customers, the ability of dietitian to provide effective solutions to clients also depends upon how well he/she understands the clients’ issues, challenges, and goals.

I have also accumulated a great deal of work experiences over the years that have prepared me for a career as a professional dietitian. Some of these work experiences could not have been more different but they taught me valuable soft skills such as communication and efficient resource management. As a retail associate at Paramus, NJ-based Afaze, I dealt extensively with customers. As a volunteer at Montclair, NJ-based Toni’s Kitchen, I consulted with a dietitian to create nutritional meals for large groups. Similarly, as a volunteer at Montclair, NJ-based Debradietworks, I assisted dietitian with serving Spanish-speaking customers. The experience gave me a good general idea of what dietitian does in a typical work day.

I believe nutritional dieting should not require sacrificing taste as many people believe and I credit my work experience at Olive Garden with teaching me this. At Olive Garden, I helped prepare as well as witnessed the preparation of many food items that had adequate nutritional content yet they were delicious at the same time, too. I am convinced that widespread adoption of healthy dieting habits will only be made possible by increasing awareness among the general public that responsible dieting choices do not require sacrificing taste.

I believe in continuously improving my knowledge of the profession and my efforts are not limited to academic and professional experiences only. I am a member of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as well as Montclair State Dietetic Organization and have greatly benefitted from the industry insights and other educational and informational sources these two organizations provide to their members. In addition, I also keep a close eye on social and cultural trends which is how I first became aware of the growing emphasis on diet years ago.

A successful career requires proper planning and I am not oblivious to this fact. I have developed both short-term and long-term goals to ensure that I stay on the track and successfully achieve my career objectives. I have already completed my undergraduate degree in psychology from Montclair State University and hope to complete my undergraduate degree in nutrition with concentration in dietetics this May, also from Montclair University.

I also hope to secure an internship in dietetic this month so that I could start my professional journey as soon as I graduate. I expect the internship to continue for at least a year and plan to take the certification exam for registered dietitian (RD) in 2015. I am confident I will successfully pass it and RD certification should help me secure a job in a leading hospital.

Even though I will complete my undergraduate journey this semester, this will not be the end of my academic career. After working as an RD in a hospital for a year, I will resume my academic career by enrolling in the graduate program in nursing in 2016 and hopefully complete it sometime in 2017. My academic and work qualifications should help me become the head RD at the hospital. While I am pursuing my graduate degree, I will reduce my working hours in the hospital instead of taking a temporary leave from work. I expect the experience to help me further enhance my organization and time management skills.

I have always known one day I will be self-employed through my private practice but I also believe in building a strong foundation. Thus, I will take my time to learn as much as I can and I expect to keep working at leading healthcare organizations at least until 2030 before jumping ship to open my own practice. My experience and reputation should increase the probability of my practice being extremely successful.

While some people move to private practice to have greater income as well as flexibility, my reasons are not entirely economic. I have always believed one should make difference in the society because we are part of the communities we live and work in. Private practice will give me more time for social work and I plan to use my experiences and knowledge to educate the general public and promote healthier and responsible dieting lifestyle. I specifically plan to focus on children because I believe dieting habits developed early in life have significant impact on dieting habits later in life and research indeed shows that overweight children are more likely to grown into obese adults.

I hope to continue managing my private practice until 2055 but I don’t see myself completely retiring for several reasons. First of all, I want to keep myself busy so I believe I will become more devoted to social causes upon exiting the work life. I also believe that people will live longer and healthier due to advancements in medical science, thus, I will only be following the general trend at the time which may be to keep working until late in life.

Success in life requires one to be aware of both strengths and weaknesses so that one can take measures to further enhance strengths as well as manage weaknesses. I consider curiosity to be my greatest strength. Curiosity ensures I continue to engage in learning and I do not only strive for greater knowledge in my chosen profession but also in other areas. This helps me better understand the complex world we live in and also recognize the emerging trends that influence or may influence the dietetic profession in the future.

My strengths also include communication skills. I believe effective listening skills are major factor behind my strong communication skills. I learnt through experience that people are more likely to open up and listen to you when you provide them the opportunity to express themselves. I believe communication skills are extremely important in the dietetic profession because a dietitian works with clients with different personalities and from all imaginable backgrounds.

My strengths also include social skills and I give huge credit to my academic background in psychology. I am an objective thinker and do not judge people which make it easier for people to open up to me and feel comfortable in my presence. I am able to understand why people think or behave in a particular manner due to my background in psychology which will help me as a dietitian.

My strengths also include time management skills which helps me when working in fast-paced environment. Time resources are becoming increasingly valuable due to growing demand for healthcare services and my effective time management skills will help me serve the needs of a wide range of client groups.

One of my weaknesses is pursuit of perfection which sometimes makes me impatient when the progress is below expectations. Thus, I need to adopt more realistic expectations to avoid disappointments which only serve to distract me. Another weakness is overconfidence which sometimes results in taking on more responsibilities than I can handle. I am often eager to prove myself but I should also not ignore the fact that too many responsibilities at the same time can hurt performance in certain areas.

My weaknesses also include lack of recreational activities because my academic and work responsibilities consume most of the time. I should take out more time for myself in order to relax and take off some stress from studies and work otherwise there may be certain long-term costs. Too much work and lack of recreational activities may also negatively hurt performance in the long term, thus, I need to become better at balancing professional and private lives.