Meet Joshua: Nutrition and dietetics

That's kind of an interesting story. I became interested in nutrition and dietetics, primarily because growing up I wasn't really trained properly how to manage my diet and eat right. I think that that carried on over into adulthood. When I finally made up my mind during COVID-19 that I was going to go back to school, I started racking my brain as to what was going to be a good program for me to enter into.

I found out about the program because I had lived in Kalamazoo my whole life and Western was always in my frame of mind, you know? So when I decided that I was going to go back to college, like I knew that this is where I wanted to go.

I enjoy being a nontraditional student. I was apprehensive to go back to college, you know? But when I realized that this was going to work out for me it really changed my whole mindset and growing in that mindset.

I am. I am the first person in my entire family. I will be the first person to have a bachelor's degree and further that to a master's degree.

The student success team has helped me in a multitude ways since I have been here. I was really trained at community college to be self-sufficient and not lean heavily on advisors or anything like that. So basically, if it wasn't broke, I didn't fix it. And I kept pushing forward.I expected that same, you know, the same takeaway at Western. That I was just going to come in and I was going to be responsible for everything.

Starting with my very first semester at WMU, the CEHD Student Success team was checking up on me. Not only checking up on me, but like developing a plan to to maintain good grades. And not only to maintain good grades, but to like help out and develop me into a more mature individual. They they try to get to know who you are on a personal level, you know, to help you in the long run.

So, starting from that first semester, you know, I was being contacted by the Success Team. They're really good at contacting you and making sure that the plan that you had created with them is being seen through, you know, at the end of the day.

My plan after I get my degree, would be to enter back in to WMU to get a master's degree. Then to apply to assisted living facilities, to work with geriatrics, and to help develop meal plans for them and and help them get their health in order to, you know, possibly extend their lives a little longer. It's also been a dream of mine to develop healthier, appealing menus that I could market and sell to restaurants around the world.

So honestly, setting the example for my kids was one of the biggest factors in my decision of going back to school. I have seen my oldest, she is in kindergarten, and I've seen it make her strive a little bit harder. You know, she's just learning how to read right now. But I've seen her really, like, push herself to to be top of her class, Like she's getting awards every couple of months. So I know that she's doing good. And so in that, I'd like to think that part of that has to do with the example that I'm setting here now, you know?