By Richard Zagrzecki
Considering Brittany Ledezma’s career goal is to become a registered dietitian, it only makes sense that she eats healthy and loves working out.
That’s why it seems strange to discover she only recently learned to do something most people master as a child: Riding a bicycle.
“It sounds weird, but when I was younger, I never rode a bike. I just learned how to do it this past year,” said Ledezma, a senior majoring in nutrition. “So now I am always biking. I love just being outdoors.”
When she’s not riding her bicycle, she spends a lot of time at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, where she works out with the weight machines. Working out, she said, is a great stress reliever.
Several days a week, however, her time and energy is focused on her duties as a wellness intern for UH Dining, which she applied for and was offered last semester after finding out about it through social media.
She assists UH Dining Director of Wellness and Sustainability Lauren Ross with different programs and presentations. Every day on the job is different – and fun.
“Just recently, we wanted students to see how much food ends up being wasted. We talked to students as they were dropping off their dirty dishes at Cougar Woods and had them scrape any leftover food into containers we put out,” Ledezma said. “It was a real eye-opener for many students to see how much food was being wasted.”
She writes some of the content for the UH Foodie blog and assists with the Teaching Kitchen program, which lets students learn how to create various food dishes from UH Dining’s executive chefs and managers.
She is scheduled to graduate in December. When she does, she will be the first person in her family to earn a degree from UH. After that, she will apply for a dietetic internship through another school, a process that is highly competitive.
She grew up in Houston and graduated from MacArthur High School in the Aldine Independent School District. Like many teenagers, she didn’t know what career path she wanted to pursue after graduating from high school. She took career services testing to see what would be a good fit for her and her personality. Nutrition was high on the list.
She already was interested in nutrition on a personal level. Diabetes and high blood pressure run in her family, which is one reason why she eats healthy and exercises.
“I didn’t even know you could get paid for telling people how to eat. The more I thought about, the more it made sense for me. I think by becoming a dietitian, I will truly be happy,” Ledezma said.
Choosing to attend UH was easy for her, as it offered the nutrition program she wanted to study, and it was close to home. She’s glad she made the decision to come here two years ago after transferring from Lone Star College.
“UH is really diverse and you just feel really welcome here. Everyone is so friendly,” she said.