How Past Experiences Create my Passion for Nutrition by Ellie

How Past Experiences Create my Passion for Nutrition by Ellie - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

The food we consume has incredible power over our well-being and can change the quality of our lives. I have always been amazed at the way nutrition improves individuals' health and prevents disease. My love for helping others combined with my passion for health and fitness, has led me to the decision of majoring in dietetics at the University of North Florida beginning in the fall of 2024. With this degree, I can fulfill my passion by making a positive impact on people's lives through advising others about the food they eat.
When I was younger, I grew a deep love for fitness through years of playing sports. As I began to recognize how the food I consumed affected my performance, I became intrigued and desired to learn more. Throughout high school, I began lifting weights and experimenting with dieting to understand the way food contributes to different aspects of my life. Unfortunately, due to the use of social media, I fell into the toxic trap of body image issues and eating disorders. The constant exposure to what seemed like perfect bodies led me to use dieting in a harmful way. I spent my sophomore and junior years of high school trying to achieve a specific body type, ultimately failing due to the ever-changing standards. During the end of my junior year, I spent time reflecting and recovering from the unhealthy mindset I had towards food. It breaks my heart to see young individuals go through what I did, and I’m eager to help others have a healthy mindset around food.
Furthermore, my love for nutrition and dietetics has derived from my passion for science and creativity. Throughout high school, My favorite classes were always biology and chemistry, because I loved being able to experiment to see how things operate. I am driven to achieve a career that combines the science aspect with creativity and human connection. As a very empathetic person, building relationships with clients, providing support, and teaching them more about the food they consume is critical to me. I also strive to be able to use my creative mentality to help plan healthy foods that are enjoyable and sustainable. Most diets today are too intense to be sustainable long-term, and dieters often gain the weight back after losing it. This is very frustrating for many individuals. I am passionate about using my creativity to create enjoyable and sustainable diets that allow for a healthy mindset around food and a healthy body.
Overall, studying dietetics in college will prepare a path for my future that will allow me to pursue a career in this field. My history of struggling with unhealthy mindsets around food equips me to be able to relate and empathize with others who are struggling with the same situations. Achieving my goals of helping others and being able to show how much food impacts a person's life is something I am fully dedicated to, and I am extremely excited to begin this career journey.