Maggie Ngo, a third-year student in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University, is spending her summer helping preschool students understand the benefits of healthy eating habits, while deepening her knowledge about child and infant nutrition.
Where are you from? Why did you choose to study at CSU?
I’m from Greenwood Village, Colorado. I was attracted to CSU because I always knew that I wanted to stay in-state for school, and I wanted to go to a big school so that I could get the college experience that I was looking for.
Additionally, CSU is one of the few big colleges in Colorado that offers a nutrition program. When I toured the campus, I fell in love with the openness and greenery that felt so welcoming. I haven’t looked back since!
My passion for nutrition goes way back to middle school, when I fell in love with baking and cooking and truly became a foodie. My love for food has only grown since then. I was drawn to a nutrition class in high school since I heard you got to cook in that class.
I ended up loving the class, and that’s where I got my first taste for nutrition. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I finalized what I wanted to study in college. I had gone back and forth with the idea of becoming an Obstetrician-Gynecologist, but eventually decided not to pursue it.
I still knew that I wanted to do something where I could help people, and it was only natural that I came back to nutrition because of how enthralled I am with the impact food has on our health and the power it has in bringing people together. Currently, my goal is to become a registered dietitian nutritionist.
Describe your summer internship.
My internship with CSU Extension is titled “Connecting Preschool Classrooms with Local Agriculture through Cooking Education.” I have been brought on as an intern to assist with a preschool cooking program. This relatively new program works on exposing new and healthy foods, mainly fresh produce, to young children to set them up for success with healthy eating habits.
We do this by going to various preschools within Boulder County to host “cooking” lessons that include sensory play, kid-friendly recipes, and fun nutrition education. This interactive nutrition education program is a part of Boulder County’s Farm to Early Childcare and Education Program.
In addition to teaching the preschool cooking classes, I am also responsible for formulating an evaluation tool to assess program success and creating a written curriculum so that the program may continue for future years.
It has been wonderful gaining experience in this internship because it has shown me a potential career pathway in community and child nutrition. I have also had the pleasure of connecting with lots of amazing people who have been able to give me plenty of great advice and support thus far.
What else have you done this summer?
This summer, my family traveled to Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. As you might expect, my favorite part of the trip was eating my way through Asia. It was very cool to experience Southeast Asian cuisine, which we don’t see a lot of in Colorado. I realized how different Southeast Asian cuisine is from East Asian cuisine, which is what I grew up eating.
My favorite country that we visited was Singapore. I was really amazed with how clean and lush an urban city could be. I really hope American cities learn a thing or two from Singapore.
How have you applied your studies at CSU in your summer experience?
So far, I have only had to apply basic nutrition knowledge to this internship since my audience is young children.
When conducting these lessons, the kids will get to indulge in sensory play with the foods, as well as some basic “cooking” lessons that will typically be no-heat cooking, unless the classrooms have ovens that we can utilize.
By giving these kids an opportunity to experience new fruits and vegetables with low-stake play, they will hopefully learn to enjoy eating these foods in their daily lives or at least be more open to trying more fruits and vegetables.
Additionally, this internship has taught me a lot, too! I have been given lots of resources and connected with some very amazing registered dietitians who have taught me a lot about infant and child nutrition, as well as how these concepts tie into childcare.
What is your favorite part about your summer experience?
My favorite part about my internship is teaching the preschool cooking classes. This is by far the most fun and fulfilling part of the internship because I get to interact with the children directly and see firsthand how they respond to the activities I’ve planned.
It has been mesmerizing and honestly kind of funny to witness the picky kids who right off the bat say they’re “allergic” to certain vegetables also be willing to touch, smell, and even lick the foods that they were once so appalled by. Children at this age are so entertaining and fun to be around. It has been a very rewarding experience.
The Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
