The NC State Nutrition Club is a hub for healthy living, community involvement and career opportunities. Students of all majors are invited to attend meetings, but the club caters to those studying nutrition and food science.
At the biweekly meetings, speakers from many different fields and professions come talk to students about their careers. These speakers include professors, researchers, nurses and dieticians.
Molly Beardslee, a fourth-year studying applied nutrition, is the president of the club. Beardslee got involved in her first year at college with the goals of finding career options in her major and meeting new people.
“We have speakers that come talk to us from the field or alumni from NC State,” Beardslee said. “It’s a good way to know what you can even do as a nutrition major. I think Inter-Faith Food Shuttle was my favorite because I didn’t know community nutrition was a thing before they came in and that’s what I want to do now.”
Students are able to understand what it is like to work in the field through attending meetings and can also network with peers and speakers. The club also has representatives from graduate schools with nutrition programs talk to students to help provide them with additional ideas for post-graduation.
Community outreach is another important aspect of the club with many opportunities for members to get involved. Some of their service includes involvement in Stop Hunger Now meal packaging events, working with the Boys & Girls Club and March Nutrition Month.
“The service is great,” Beardslee said. “You can get out in the community and work with people that can lead to internships and jobs. But, the service itself is great because who doesn’t like to go out into the community and help people?”
For March Nutrition Month, the club tables in the Brickyard with nutritional education games, free healthy snacks and recipes.
Andrew Paff, a fourth-year studying food science is the “snack chef,” or the food co-chair for the club. Paff talked about the importance of nutrition and how they want to urge students to get informed.
“Nutrition is important for overall health and well-being,” Paff said. “Having adequate nutrition makes you more physically able and being deficient with nutrition can hurt your functionality.”
Members of the Nutrition Club also find value in creating a community among people with similar interests.
“I loved meeting people in my major,” Beardslee said. “I didn’t know anyone in nutrition before. You get to meet people in nutrition and see them in class. You can make connections with professors like our advisors.”
Paff has enjoyed the interdisciplinary aspect of the club because it allows him to communicate with nutrition students even though he studies food science.
“The club has helped me with interacting with different majors,” Paff said. “Being a food science major, it helped me gain a new perspective with different majors and more collaboration with nutrition sciences. We try to collaborate and come up with the best answer. It gave me insight on more than just what I think, but an overall consensus for things.”
Despite the club being mainly nutrition and food science students, it encourages anyone with an interest in the field of nutrition to join.
“Even if you’re not in the major, you can gain insight into topics you haven’t thought about,” Paff said.
The first meeting of the semester will be Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. in Schaub Hall room 105 and snacks will be provided. Anyone looking to learn more about nutrition and gain insight into the field is encouraged to check it out.
