ABOUT Leah

     For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of finding a passion I could make a career of.  At first I wanted to pursue an art career, but when I started high school, my passion for nutrition became something I found very personal.  My journey began when I struggled with my weight. I always had issues with my weight for as long as I can remember. I tried countless diets and eating less of certain foods, but it was like nothing I did seemed to work. I gained up to almost 200 lbs when I was 16 and knew I needed to make a change.  By the end of 2012, my Dad won an incliner treadmill and this was a huge motivation for me to actually lose the weight for good.  I was determined to reach my goal no matter what.  I started eating a low calorie diet and avoiding high fat foods and worked out on the treadmill for at least an hour every single day.  In less than a few months, I had lost so much weight and was actually very happy and proud of myself.  I had a body I had always wanted.  I kept the workout routine up for years, but tweaked it along the way. My diet also improved and I was able to eat more kinds of foods and still maintain my weight. I even started giving dietary advice to family and friends and became more passionate about nutrition.  I even did a senior project on methods for weight loss and healthy eating.

     After graduating high school in 2015, I had gained a few extra pounds over the summer and knew I had to go back on another diet during my first semester of community college.  Unfortunately, I took it a little too far and ended up making a huge mistake.  I started off in my usual way, but  felt like I wasn’t getting the results I wanted fast enough.  I ended up decreasing my intake to 1200 calories a day and working out 45 min everyday on the treadmill at a high incline.  My intake became less and less, and my workout routine started to last longer and longer. I lost the weight I wanted, plus some.  I felt so tiny and fulfilled.  However, there were many complications and consequences due to my diet and exercising.  Not only did I gain the body I had always wanted, I started to have side effects like extreme hair loss, fatigue,  no motivation, and I couldn’t focus.  I started to skip my period for months, my bones were more prominent, and my weight dropped below my ideal for my body type.  I started to isolate myself from all my friends.  My addiction lead me to become anorexic. I was obsessed with eating under 800 calories a day and exercising for 3 hours a day.  I feared gaining weight if I stopped or changed my routine.  Towards the end of 2015, my family helped me in changing up my routine by eating a little more, although I kept exercising for hours. I managed to gain a little weight, but it took me a while to fully recover.  

     My whole anorexia journey lead me to wanting to learn more about nutrition and gave me the motivation to want to help others.  I was still obsessed with being small and fear of getting fat. I kept this routine up until 2017 when I had gained my weight back to a healthy BMI and felt like my over zealous exercising was not helping me anymore. I then started USM to take more advanced nutrition courses in hopes of graduating with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition.  I still felt unfulfilled and worried that I would sabotage my weight-loss success. I was healthy, but I was not happy. I told myself that at the beginning of 2018, I was going to try something completely different.  So in January 2018, I signed up at my local gym, and met with a personal trainer, and learned how to do strength training.  I started lifting weights and changing my diet once again. Over a short period of time, I started to notice a huge difference, not in just my body, but in my mindset as well.  I started to become happier and loving my body in the way I should.  I stopped the extreme diets and exercising, and ate what I enjoyed.  I didn’t have to exercise for hours just to maintain a certain body type.  I stopped weighing myself several times a day since that was also an addiction. I learned to accept my body for how it was. I was more focused in school, enjoying life, and I felt more motivated than ever before.

     During 2019, I picked up a new hobby and learned how to create 3D art. I also got my first real job by working at a small restaurant chain called The Salad Station.  I was one of the hardest working employees there and I felt so proud and happy.  I kept doing my 3D art and truly enjoyed it, but the 3D online art platform became toxic and I was cyberbullied through social media.  This completely changed my life.  I stopped focusing in school, my grades dropped, and I became super anxious and depressed.  I struggled with my school assignments, and ultimately felt like a huge failure.  My family saw me spiraling downward and helped me get medical attention and counseling to help me cope.  I didn’t want to give up on my dream, but I felt so lost during that time. I scolded myself for letting those people take control over me and making me believe that I was never good enough at anything.  I didn’t pass a certain course and needed to retake it in order to graduate.  I was held back for another year because of my mistake.  I felt so ashamed of myself, but I knew that I couldn’t just give up so easily. I managed to overcome my issues and moved on with my life.  I was determined to pass my courses and graduate.  I tried and tried, over and over, until I managed to make it.  Before graduation, I took a job at River Oaks Hospital in the dietary department to get some clinical experience.  I kept up my studies, passed the courses, and  was finally able  to graduate.  I was so excited and  knew that my dream was going to finally come true.  I applied to several dietetic internships and  patiently waited to see the matches.  I got a new job working at Chick-fil-A during that time and found it to be quite enjoyable and rewarding.  However, I never  received an internship match.  I was so devastated and so angry with myself for feeling like a huge failure.  I felt like I was not good enough since I was never good academically.  I did all the courses, all the projects, took all the exams, and I still wasn’t able to get accepted into an internship.  

     Since that time,  I have repeated some science courses to get my GPA up, in hopes that it will help me this year.  My GPA has went up slightly, but may not be satisfiable enough.  I still so badly want to get accepted and fulfill my life long dream of becoming a dietitian.  I know I have  so much potential.  I am much more than my grades reflect.  My dream and goal is to be able to help others have a better life.  I want to prove that I can do this and have what it takes. This is my second time applying for an internship and I hope and pray that I can make it this time. I have never given up and I am determined to make it.  I want to prove that I am up for the challenge.