Don't feel like you have to be stuck in a certain career path. I was originally a biology major and didn't like it. I made a change. To be honest, I don't know where I'm going to be five years from now. Keep the door open for new pathways.

I perform a variety of tasks each day, such as calorie counts for patients, one-on-one education with patients, communicating with my co-workers and assessing patients to see if they are at nutritional risk. Every patient has to be assessed. I provide notes for the nutritionist regarding patients' special diet needs. Some days, I am part of a team that sees many patients on various floors. We may be working with up to 150 patients.

You have to be flexible in this position since you have to fill in as "relief" on other teams. You have to be able to work well with all the teams, go at their pace and do things the way they want. Teams seem to do some things differently, so you have to be able to adjust to that environment. The use of dietetic technicians at Mayo is different than other institutions. At Mayo, we actually get to do diet instructions and assessments, and follow some high-risk patients -- ones that are not at severe nutritional risk but may have minor problems. This job allows me to make the most of my college education, which is why I wanted to come to Mayo.

I like when I have fun patients such as the cute little grandmas who are big sweethearts. My co-workers are cool, too.