Taking the Long Road: My 13-Year Journey to Finish a Four-Year Degree and Become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

(Originally written in 2018)

As a 36-year-old Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), you might assume that I’ve been doing this job for over a decade. Especially since someone can become an RDN in about four years. Most of my patients would be surprised to know I’ve only been working as a Dietitian for the past four and a half years. All in all, it took me 13 years to finish a four-year degree.

My journey was unconventional. It was filled with potholes and heartache, hurricanes and assholes. I made it through hell and high water. The rainbow after the storm was there all along, better than I could’ve imagined, waiting for me to find it.

What ensues is a brief tale of my dog paddling the choppy waters of adulthood, chasing the elusive bachelor’s degree. My guides were grit and naive stupidity.

Before I share my journey, you should probably know what the traditional path looks like for becoming a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.

Becoming a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

Typically, becoming a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) requires a bachelor’s degree from an accredited nutrition or dietetics program. This program must be approved by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). Along with the education, one must complete at least 1200 hours of supervised practice (dietetic internship), which must also be accredited by ACEND.

The programs can differ depending on the college. I lived in New Orleans while completing my degree with Rutgers. I couldn’t graduate until I finished my rotations (internship), which I was able to do while also living there. This is an example of a Coordinated Program.

My coworker, on the other hand, went to a college where she finished her degree, then completed her internship. Before deciding on a school, look into the different programs offered. And just so you know, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website, starting in 2024, a graduate degree will be required to take the RDN exam.

Once you’ve graduated and finished the supervised rotations, you’re officially eligible to sign up for the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s exam. When you’ve passed this computerized test, it grants you the designation of Registered Dietitian Nutritionist! After this, you may also be required to obtain state-specific licensing (depending on the state).

My Unconventional Journey

It was 2001 when I graduated high school, at a time when people in my town were starting to get computers and cell phones. My family didn’t have a computer yet, and I wrote my high school papers on a typewriter or at the school’s computer lab. Although I always loved writing, I didn’t see it as a viable career option then. However, I’d worked on my high school’s news show as an anchor, and loved it. I soon decided to enter Southeastern Louisiana University with a major in Mass Communication.

After two years and several life experiences, including moves and breakups, my grades fell. I temporarily lost my scholarship and was forced to transfer to Delgado Community College (DCC), which offered a satellite campus in my town. At that time, it felt like my world was crumbling. I’d never done poorly in a class before, and I’d lost focus, letting my GPA slip to a 2.4 (when I needed a 2.5 to keep my scholarship).

Deflated and unsure of the future, I randomly ended up taking a nutrition class at DCC, which ultimately changed the course of my life. I fell in love with nutrition. It was the perfect mix of science and self-improvement I’d always been interested in.

After finding out that SLU didn’t offer a dietetics program, I decided to stay at Delgado and enrolled in their Associate of Science degree with a specialization in dietetics. This degree happened to be part of a coordinated program. The plan was to take the required classes while chipping away at the 450 hours of dietetic internship. Once graduated, I’d be able to sit for the Dietetic Technician Registered (DTR) exam, also offered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration.

But, things didn’t work out as planned. Remember, this is my unconventional path.

The week before winter finals in 2004, my dad passed away unexpectedly. It was a traumatic experience, one that I’ll detail at some point, but not today. This story is about becoming an RDN.

I was grateful to have such understanding professors at DCC. They gave me space to grieve with family and friends while simultaneously helping me wrap up final projects and exams.

I finally graduated in May of 2005, with my two-year degree in science, eligible to take the DTR exam. Rather than taking the exam right away, I jumped into summer classes at the University of New Orleans (UNO). Although they didn’t offer a four-year degree specializing in dietetics, they did have a transfer plan for DCC graduates. They accepted my associate’s degree, and since I'd taken tons of classes, in three semesters I could graduate with my bachelors in General Studies, specializing in health promotion.

I finished my summer classes and spent the rest of the summer with my grandparents in Texas, as my Mema recovered from major eye surgery.

August of 2005 rolled around, and during the first week of fall classes, Hurricane Katrina hit. I was living in Slidell, Louisiana, just north of New Orleans. To say the hurricane’s impact was devastating minimizes everything about it. I evacuated to the Florida panhandle days before it struck and ended up staying there for several weeks after. My school and work temporarily shut down, and I yearned to be back home, helping my community in any way possible.

Once I finally made it back to Slidell, my living arrangements changed, and I moved back in with my stepmom and siblings. I had the option to relocate to a different college and continue with my degree, but I didn’t. I was at such a loss with the storm, while still mourning my father that I decided to stay in Slidell for the time being. Rather than going back to serving at Olive Garden, I worked with my best friends, gutting houses. This form of manual labor was probably the hardest work I’ve ever done, both physically and mentally. But it was equally rewarding.

There’s so much to say about this time of my life, including how dark and unstable it became. The self-medicating and troublesome vices quickly became habits, accompanying me and everyone I knew as we reeled in the storm’s aftermath. It’s hard to imagine how quickly and drastically everything you know can change, until it does. To say I was struggling is an understatement, but at the same time, I was more fortunate than so many others.

Following everything that happened, my new boyfriend and I ended up moving to the Houston area in Spring of 2006. Being originally from Texas and having the majority of my family still living there, it was nice to be back on familiar stomping grounds.

I began work as a receptionist at a local yoga studio (actually a Dahn Yoga studio) and finally took (and passed) the DTR exam. Soon after, I began working as a Cafeteria Manager Intern for a school district in the area. My friends loved that I was a lunch lady and would harass me with Adam Sandler’s song every chance they got. I met some wonderful women there and loved having summers off while still getting paid. I ended up choosing to work during the summer, essentially getting double pay.

I took a few classes here and there with the Lonestar State College System while considering the four-year dietetics program at the University of Houston. The next summer, I ended up applying to work the front desk at a local gym. I didn’t know it at the time, but this would end up becoming another turning point in my life. The manager of the personal training department saw my resume and talked me into joining her team. I quickly made the decision to leave the school and start at the gym.

It took some time, but I eventually became certified as a Personal Trainer through the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). While employed at the gym, I also completed a Certificate of Training in Childhood and Adolescent Weight Management through CDR. And during my last year there, I finished a three-day training to become a Body Pump instructor.

The gym became the home I didn’t know I needed. My coworkers became family, and they still are to this day. Being naturally non-athletic and never having worked out before, I evolved in ways I didn’t know possible. But at the same time, my vices evolved along with me.

After another shit life event, I started looking back into nutrition. I ended up deciding to take a DTR job at Shriners Burn Hospital for Children, located in Galveston. Finally, I’d be starting a career in nutrition.

The week I was to sign the hiring paperwork, Hurricane Ike struck. Galveston and the Houston area were devastated, and the hospital shut down (for good, although I didn’t know it at the time).

As life would have it, things didn’t go as planned. But like with Katrina, I was one of the lucky ones coming out of the storm, relatively unscathed. Still reeling after the storm and my broken engagement, I was simply trying to get back on my feet.

The gym already had my resignation notice, and my ex had our house. It was another fork in the road moment. I decided to accept an offer I’d previously received with AmeriCorps as a HealthCorps member. Luckily the position was still available, and I was to start right away. So, I left Texas and moved to Baton Rouge, living in Louisiana once again.

Life was tough in my new position. I was struggling. My living situation was questionable, and one roommate tried stealing my identity. I ended up living in five different residences during my ten-month term. I received a living stipend, which averaged at around $4.00 per hour. I was on food stamps and got a second job to make ends meet. This position is where my second bout of fitness experience occurred. I worked for BREC, Baton Rouge’s Parks and Recreational service, in their gyms.

Despite the struggle, AmeriCorps has remained one of the best things I’ve ever done. My position consisted of community outreach, working with tobacco cessation, and HIV testing and counseling. I was able to volunteer with a wide variety of organizations and helped at various events, including health fairs, Jazz Fest, and Bonnaroo.

I ended up moving back to Slidell, LA, to finish my AmeriCorps term in New Orleans, where I worked with a federally qualified health center called EXCELth. I would end up working with this company again, years later, when I was finally re-enrolled to complete my bachelor’s degree.

During the end of my AmeriCorps term, I fell in love with someone I’d briefly brushed paths with during my 7th-grade math class. Trying to iron out a plan post-Americorps, I interviewed with non-profits in the New Orleans area but didn’t get hired. As fate would have it, my new partner was leaving for California and asked me to go with him.

We worked on a small family farm in Humboldt County. Our day-to-day consisted of farm labor, including growing and harvesting. I also performed bookkeeping for their business during the off-season. This was another major turning point, as the convenience of ordinary life was gone. We were at least 15-minutes from the closest gas station, 35 minutes from a grocery store, and lived without a generator for the majority of our time there. I was thrown into a world I didn’t know existed and ended up finding more of myself there than I had anywhere else.

As much as I love the conveniences offered in my current life, I’d trade it all in a heartbeat to go back to those California days. There’s just something about being in the middle of the woods, separated from the hustle and bustle of ordinary life. It gave me a feeling of raw vulnerability, yet was also liberating. Without any outside distractions, my perspective shifted. I felt awakened to a new world and way of living.

After a year there, we moved to Massachusetts. At that time, we were trying to figure out our next move, and as fate would have it, I received an email from my former Program Director at DCC. There was an online program for DTR’s who wanted to become Dietitians.

The nutrition career was circling back around. I applied to the program, even though it was competitive. My partner and I moved back to New Orleans, as I awaited my acceptance status. And in the case I didn’t get in, I reached back out to UNO about returning there.

I ended up getting into the online program. After two and a half years of online classes, another 900 hours of internship, while working full-time at various jobs (including EXCELth, another gym, Whole Foods, and multiple restaurants), I graduated. It felt like a dream. This journey took me 13 years to finish, from high school graduation in 2001 to finally getting my bachelors in 2014.

During this time, I also sought therapy and zeroed in on what I wanted my life to be like. I faced my self-medicating and vices head-on, giving up alcohol for a year and cigarettes altogether. I’d made it this far and wasn’t going to let any self-destructive behaviors drag me back down.

I skipped the graduation ceremony, continued working, and studied for the RDN exam. Two months later, I took it and passed. After a decade of wading through the swampy waters of uncertainty and despair, I finally made it.

After all that, I’d sworn off higher education for good.

But, years later I'd enroll in a master’s degree.

For the graduate degree, I followed my heart and went into writing. Solidifying my career as a freelance wellness writer, while seeing patients on the side doesn’t seem so far out of reach. I hope to spend the rest of this shared human experience, connecting with others, helping them to improve their lives.

What I’ve learned is that the end is never really the end. It’s just a fallen tree in the road that has to be dealt with. Whether you walk around it, use a chainsaw, or climb right over, the only choice is to keep going. Try til you die — that’s my personal motto. And in the words of both the band Semisonic (in their song Closing Time) and Seneca, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”