Autumn - Ohio State University

As the end of the internship draws nearer and nearer, it feels as if time is flying faster and faster.
On Monday and Tuesday, I tied up some lose ends on the menu for my theme dinner, which is now my theme lunch, and performed marketing tasks for my lunch as well as other events/dining locations on campus. For my event, this included putting all of the updated menu items in CBORD and updating the posters and napkin-holder inserts before printing them.

Wednesday was another field trip day! This time, we went to the Hobart warewashing plant. There, we were able to view the factory in which industrial dishwashers and cooking appliances are constructed and a research and development area. One area of the tour that stood out to me was a "testing" room. In this room different types of parts were being continuously run in order to determine the effects of extended use on Hobart's products. For example, one piece of equipment had started its test in January of 2011, and it was still running when we visited! Below are some pictures from the trip:


Thursday started off with another, smaller, field trip, in order to do some market research. The trip took us to a nearby Caribou Coffee location. The main goal was to investigate what types of impulse buys Caribou offers to its customers, because a Caribou Coffee will be sold at one of Ohio State's, soon to be open, facilities.

After the morning coffee run, I spent the rest of my day shadowing management at North Commons, a traditional dining hall. North Commons is where my theme lunch will take place. Therefore, I will be spending the majority of the rest of my internship at this facility, in order to become familiar with its operations. I also spent time at North Commons on Friday; however, Friday morning, I participated in a mock interview. The position that I interviewed for was that of "Service Coordinator," which is a position that requires tasks such as supervision, management, and quality control. Despite my nerves, and the fact that I already knew all of the interviewers, I was told that I performed very well: "Cool as a Cucumber," was one positive comment that I received.

This week was very enjoyable and educational (especially when I received feedback from the mock-interviewers). I can hardly believe that there is really only one more week of the internship left!