Purdue - Week Three!

Week 3 - done! We learned so much in these last five days that I can't believe it's only been a week since the last time I've posted... 

On Monday, I was able to work in the Gallery at Earhart Dining Court. This station is what Earhart is known for and is what draws thousands of students here during the school year. It consists of a Mongolian-style grill where students can make their own stir-fry, and woks that supply all of the Asian themed food in this station. What I really enjoyed about working here (other than working at the grill - this was so cool!) was that all of the food is made freshly. While at other stations they can prepare in advance for mealtime rushes and store the food in holders, the Gallery prepares food as needed. This station stays very busy because of this. 

The Gallery - Mongolian-Style Grill

The Gallery - Woks

On Wednesday, we were back in Earhart, and I worked in the Souper Deli. This station supplies all of the soup and deli items, along with a panini machine where students can make their own gourmet sandwiches. 

Friday was also spent in Earhart working along with the student employees. On this day I learned about all the different levels of student responsibility, as can be seen by the color of shirt they wear, and what their duties entail. The students who work in the dining courts are mainly responsible for maintaining the lines during meals, cleaning equipment, and answering all questions that the customers may have. Since they have to cover so much ground, we spent this day traveling around to all of the different stations and helping out in any way possible. 

Tuesday and Thursday were spent with our supervisor, Mary Ann. On these days we learned about the various projects we will have to complete during our time here. First, we will be writing an article for the NACUFS newsletter about health promotion at the college level and how to promote nutrition and healthy eating to college students. Second, we will need to create a themed menu based on the Freshman Common Reading Program book for 2012, called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. And third, we will need to create a learning module for new employees about Food Allergies. Brittany and I have begun brainstorming what we want to do for these projects, and we will start spending more and more time working on them. I hope there's enough time!!

Also on Thursday, we took a few field trips around the campus. We stopped by the Farmers Market that is held here every week and talked to some of the booth owners about their products, then went to Ford Dining Court for food testing. They were deciding whether or not to switch companies for bagel providers and Indian food sauces, so we helped them by giving our opinions on these products. 

Brittany and I at Purdue's Farmers Market!

Some of the sauces we tried during the food testing.

Overall, this was a great week! I've been learning so much and can't wait to see how these projects will turn out! 

Have a great weekend everyone!!

-Susan