Nutrition Student of the Month - Chelsi Brown - Alumni - Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions

Where are you from?
I’m originally from Seattle, Washington
Why did you choose to study nutrition? Was there a specific person, experience, or event that sparked your interest?
I was majoring in Kinesiology as an undergrad, and one of my elective courses was Nutrition, which I ended up really enjoying. I started personally using my (very basic) knowledge regarding nutrition to improve my athletic performance and training. After graduating I started working at a weight loss clinic where I counseled clients 1-on-1. Whenever we had a client that was also an athlete, I jumped at the opportunity to be their “coach.” After about a year and a half I started to really think about how I could combine my kinesiology degree with nutrition, and decided I wanted to become a sports dietitian. I only applied to 2 schools – GSU and Bastyr (which is 15 minutes from where I grew up), with GSU being my first choice.
What nutrition program were you a part of at GSU? What made you choose your program?
I was in Cohort 24 of the Coordinated Program. There were a couple big reasons why I chose this program: 1) The location. I’d lived in Washington State my whole life and always told myself if I went to graduate school I would go somewhere out of state (somewhere sunny), and I had visited Atlanta a couple times prior and fell in love with the city. And 2) I had done my research and learned there was the opportunity to do a concentration in sports nutrition, and faculty whose research I was interested in.
What was your favorite thing about the nutrition program? What were some of your biggest takeaways?
There are a lot of stand-out features of GSU’s coordinated program, but I think one of the best is the number of opportunities when it comes to rotations. No matter what your interest is in, there’s a rotation site for it. Additionally, the scheduling was flexible so that I was able to fit in nearly every rotation I wanted. Not only that, but I truly felt prepared when it came to the RD exam as well as entering my first job as a clinical RD.
Did you have any assistantships while you were in the program that helped offset the cost of tuition? If so, tell us a bit about what you did for these assistantships.
I did! I was a GTA for an undergraduate nutrition course, which mainly consisted of creating and grading assignments, quizzes and exams, as well as communicating with students if they had any questions or needed help preparing for exams.
What has your career looked like since you graduated? Tell us about the jobs you have had or currently have.
Though my passion originally was sports nutrition, I found myself really enjoying my clinical rotations. So, after graduating, I was able to take on a position as a PRN Clinical Dietitian at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. A few months later I landed a full-time position at Piedmont Atlanta where I covered a med-surg ICU and an acute neurology floor. I stayed on as PRN at Wellstar during that time, and eventually a full-time position became available there. Since my mentor was at Wellstar, I applied and was offered the position, where I’ve been for about 3 years now and cover the medical ICU and the IMCU.
What other passions do you have? Has studying nutrition helped you realize or grow these passions?
I still very much have a passion for athletics – first cheerleading in college, then bodybuilding, and now aerial arts. Studying nutrition has helped me to grow these passions by giving me the knowledge and insight needed to perform at my best, as well as recover.
If you could give advice to someone considering studying nutrition, what advice would you give them?
I have a couple pieces of advice: First, there’s SO many more opportunities in the field of nutrition than you know! Before I started the program at GSU, I had no clue that dietitians worked in hospitals… So keep an open mind, because when you go into a program or internship thinking your path will be one way, may end up going a totally different direction (in a good way). Second, as an intern make sure you treat every rotation as not just a learning opportunity but also as a networking opportunity, and a job interview. The connections you make during your internship have the potential to open doors afterwards.

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