Weeks 1 and 2 at Dartmouth

Hi, fellow interns and readers! I arrived in Hanover, New Hampshire, about 2 weeks ago to begin my internship at Dartmouth College. I can’t believe how BEAUTIFUL it is up here – I’m surrounded by mountains and it hasn’t (yet) been too hot to go outside. The hiking is great, and I’ve been on the Appalachian Trail a few times already.

During my first week, I was mostly shown the ropes, introduced to everyone on the Dartmouth Dining Services (DDS) team, and already had 2 catering events! The first was a farewell event for the Dean of the College for Campus Life, who is leaving Dartmouth to become a Vice President at Binghamton University. To honor her years of service to the school, DDS served some of her favorite foods: pulled pork barbeque, gelato, and sweet tea were some of the things we served. A blue-grass band was also playing to bring her back to her southern roots. It was a great time!

The second event was a picnic for the Facilities Operations and Management team, to thank them for the many things they do around campus!

We served hamburgers, hot dogs, coleslaw, potato salad, pasta salad, and other grillout-type foods. The event was for the team as well as their families, so there were a bunch of kid-friendly things to do as well such as a moonbounce, snow cone machines, popcorn machines, and a clown making balloon animals. It was very hot being outside next to grills for the afternoon, but it was still a lot of fun!

My second week was mostly a training-sort of week. I was introduced to the program Computrition, which essentially assists DDS with keeping track of items, purchase orders, inventories, recipes and menus. The system is still relatively new to the school, and ultimately the goal is to add a dining hall to the system before the summer is over. So at the moment myself and a few other DDS team members are adding food items into the program. I also helped take and record inventory – it was my first time doing inventory, and I learned there’s a lot more to it than just counting!

Overall, my first two weeks here have been awesome! Everyone has been incredibly helpful in adjusting me to my summer home, and many have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome in the community. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to spend my summer! More pictures to come:)