Autumn - Ohio State University

The holiday weekend was a nice break after finishing the first quarter of the internship at Ohio State. However, once we returned from our home states, it was right back to work. The first assignment for the week was to work at the Ohio State Union Market. The Union Market is a food court, which presents students with the option to customize their meals in ways that traditional dining cannot offer. On Tuesday, we worked at the Union Market's sandwich/wrap/panini station, Dough-HI-O, and make-your-own salad station, Across the Field. The work was not too strenuous because there were no new student orientations this week, but the Union Market was still functioning to meet the needs of its regular diners.

On Wednesday, we were back at the Union Market working at its burger station, Fired Up. This station was the most energetic of the three because it was set up as a mock of the famous hamburger chain, Five Guys. This meant that when taking orders, we were to yell out to the cooks just how many patties of what kind (hamburger, turkey burger, chicken breast, salmon burger, or veggie burger) were needed.

Thursday brought us experiences in marketing and administration, as we shadowed employees from the University Residences and Dining Services main office. This day included critiquing the university's 19 page catering menu and sitting in on a meeting to shorten the menu. We also met with a representative from TriMark/SS Kemp, who will provide the university with various types of foodservice supplies and equipment. The last activity of this busy day was meeting with one of the head chefs in order to smooth out some kinks in a proposed set of traditional dining menus. We really felt a part of the team, after this day!

On Friday, we went on our first field trip. On our field trip we visited the headquarters of Velvet ice cream, which supplies various ice cream products to Ohio State. We toured the grounds with a gaggle of preschoolers and learned about the history of this family operated business. After our tour, we ate lunch at Velvet's restaurant, which included a few sundaes! However, the excitement of the day did not end after we got our fill of ice cream. On the way back from Velvet, we stopped at one of Ohio's roadside attractions:This is the Longaberger Basket Company headquarters, and, as you can see, it is a seven-story basket-shaped building. Weird!



After all of the lessons learned and excitement experienced, at the end of the week, the atmosphere at Ohio State changed. The number of participating NACUFS interns dropped from two to one, this week. However, I will continue to keep you updated on the activities that occur at Ohio State, and I am ready to face the challenge of continuing the internship on my own!