The title of this blog post captures the natural high I'm currently experiencing due to so many amazing things that have happened over the past month. I'll start by saying that I'm officially an RD-to-be! After years of hard work, I was matched to a super-competitive dietetic internship and I couldn't be more elated. In case you have no clue what I'm talking about, in order to become a Registered Dietitian in the US, you have to be accepted and complete a dietetic internship. All applicants rank their choices of internships (similar to how med students rank their residency choices) but not all applicants get accepted. The acceptance rate for all internships across the US is something like ~49%, so the competition is fierce and the stress during the waiting period is intense. I'm so excited for the internship and the learning opportunities I'll be exposed to.
The period of time leading up to "match day" (April 2nd-the day all applicants find out whether they matched or not) was quite an emotional roller-coaster. In addition to applying to internships, I was also in the midst of writing my master's thesis. I was feeling really overwhelmed, but luckily I have really supportive friends and family. One of my family friends noticed that I could use a vacation and suggested we go to Sedona, Arizona and my response was a loud "YESSSS!". I had been to Sedona once when I was 15 and although it was only for a few days, it left a lasting impression on me. We booked the trip for the end of March-early April, so that I could be in full-on relaxation mode on match day.
The trip itself was in a word, magical. No written description of Sedona can do it justice, it's the kind of place that you actually have to go to in order to experience the beauty. We spent roughly 75% of our waking hours outside exploring nature by hiking and meditating outside. I found out that I got into the dietetic internship on our second-to-last day in Sedona, so that night we celebrated and it was the perfect ending to an amazing trip.
I can't wait to share more exciting updates about the internship when it starts, and hopefully I'll be doing more traveling in the future when my schedule allows.
-Jess
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