Student Corner Interview

Kathleen Pollard

Dietetics Student

I am Kathleen Pollard, from Seminole, FL. I am a senior at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. At Winthrop I study Human Nutrition, dietetics option, and play on the Women’s Soccer team.

How did you become interested in nutrition?

I have always had an interest in nutrition. My mom is a Family and Consumer Science teacher. She enjoyed cooking and talking about foods and I always wanted to help in the kitchen. When I entered college I was not sure what to pursue because I had many interests. I decided on nutrition after realizing there were many different areas an RD can study. I also realized I could incorporate many of my other interests, athletics, international travel, marketing, and natural and organic products, into a nutrition career.

What is your interest in sports nutrition? Are you involved in sports?

My interest in sports nutrition began when I was seven years old playing soccer in Pinellas County, Florida. I still play soccer, but now at the Division One college level. From an early age, I learned the importance of practicing, conditioning, strength training, and eating correctly to optimize my performance on the soccer field.  My own experiences taught me that many athletes do not realize the importance of proper nutrition to their performance. I have seen athletes, even my own teammates, struggle with fatigue and weight due to poor macronutrient intake and inadequate hydration. I am interested in the individuality of every sport, position, and person and how to satisfy nutrient needs to maximize performance.

Tell us about any other experiences have you had in sports nutrition.

This past summer I interned at one of the most advanced multi-training and educational facility in the world. Athletes from 46 states and 80 different countries come to train at the sports academy with a passion to excel in athletics. I worked along side a nutritionist, mental conditioning staff, physical conditioning coaches, communication experts, and athletic trainers to maximize athletes’ potential. Clients ranged from young elite athletes to professionals.

I performed a variety of tasks that expanded my knowledge of sports nutrition, including giving group lectures on nutrition topics such as hydration, competition eating, body composition, and everyday meals and snack. I performed one-on-one consultations with athletes ranging in age from seven year olds to older adults. I developed pamphlets and nutrition flyers, performed sweat rate tests, talked to adult tennis players about hydration, made a hydration video, performed nutrient analysis, researched information, and much more. The best part of my internship was that it provided me with new challenges everyday. I learned to give a nutrition consultation in half Spanish and to design tools to help foreign athletes, such as developing a nutrition jeopardy game to help education two young Nigerian clients.

After realizing that Winthrop University did not have a sports nutritionist on staff, I discussed the lack of a sports nutrition counselor with the human nutrition faculty. With supervision from the Registered Dietitian faculty members, I worked with Athletic Department staff to create a student sports-nutritionist position.  As the student sports-nutritionist, I am a student-member of the strength and conditioning coaching staff, providing sports nutrition counseling to athletes on a day-to-day basis. 

What are your professional goals? Once you become a registered dietitian, what kind of work do you want to do?

My future goals are to become a Registered Dietitian and a Board Certificated Specialist in Sports Dietetics who will work with youth-, college- and professional-level athletes to increase their understanding of how food and nutrition, combined with athletic training, can improve athletic performance. Throughout my career I desire to integrate and explore other areas of nutrition, including food service, environment aspects, marketing, and international jobs.

Is there anything else you would like to share with other students?

I would tell other students to self-reflect and research on your own to learn what opportunities exist to gain experience. Start getting involved early and form good relationships with peers, professors, and professionals. 

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