From White Coats Dreams To Diet Plans

Not all doctors wear stethoscopes. Some prescribe food.

Welcome to WHY THIS COURSE?

From childhood dreams to random decisions, from chasing passion to JAMB choosing for us. Every student has a story behind their course. In this segment, we explore the stories behind how students ended up in their current courses. Some chased passion, some stumbled into it and a few aren't even sure about how they got there. Either way, every story is a story that deserves to be told.

Meet Alaafia, a 400 level student of Nutrition and dietetics . Her journey started with dreams of medicine, then Pharmacy and finally to a course she completely loves. Full of plot twists and purpose, her story might just inspire you.

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Hiii Alaafia, thank you for being down for this. On a scale on 1-10, how are you doing today?

7

Wow, that's a strong number oh, any special reason?

Nothing at all ooo, today was just a normal day🥲

And I love that for you. Let's go back a bit, as a child, what did you want to study and what are you studying now?

As a child, I wanted to study medicine

I’m currently studying nutrition and dietetics

Interesting shift! Did Nutrition and dietetics choose you or what changed along the way?

I realised that I didn’t have what it takes to study medicine. Imagine a medical student that can’t stand the sight of blood, that was me. I just knew medicine wasn't for me.

So when medicine didn't work out, how did Nutrition and Dietetics come into the picture?

After medicine, I fell in love with pharmacy and I was so determined to become a pharmacist. But something happened again, I couldn’t stand the smell of some drugs.

My cousin who was studying pharmacy told me that if I couldn't withstand the smell of certain drugs, it will be hard to cope because as a pharmacist, you spend most of your time handling drugs

Wow, back to back plot-twist. So how did you find out about Nutrition and Dietetics?

In Ss3, I became the food prefect. I got access to the lab and the teachers, I asked them questions about what they studied. Some said Food and nutrition and others Food science and technology.

Around that time, I developed an interest in people with Obesity, and wanted to look for ways I could help them manage obesity. I thought Food science and Technology will help me in achieving that goal

But you didn't end up picking Food science and Technology, why that switch?

I wrote Jamb and picked Food science and technology (thank God I didn't later stick to it, because that course is sooo hard😭)

After my Jamb exam, my aunty came visiting and we had a long discussion. She made me realize that if I truly wanted to help people with diet-related conditions like obesity, nutrition and dietetics was the better option not Food Science and Technology

Was that when you made the final switch?

Yes, I eventually had to change my university(for another reason though) and I also changed my course.

I thank God I picked this course because it is something I genuinely love doing🥹

What's one thing you love about your course and one thing that frustrates you?

One thing I love about my course is how relatable it is. I can actually use the knowledge of nutrition in helping people around me manage their condition without having to collect a dime from them(at least for now).

What frustrates me the most? People always assume that my course is all about cooking and it's far more than that!

I was wondering when we'll get here! Amazing. What will you say is the biggest misconception people have about your course that annoys you

That it's all about cooking!

Sounds like you're tired of hearing that. So tell us, is Nutrition and dietetics all about cooking?

Noooooooooooo

So what is it really about?

Nutrition and dietetics involves studying the relationship between your food intake, nutrition and health.

We use the knowledge of nutrition to treat diet related conditions. We counsel patients, give health talks in clinics and communities, and develop specialized meal plans for patients amongst many others. There's so much more to the course than cooking.

That's great to hear! What's one win you had recently that made you smile?

A scholarship🥹

Omgggggg, that’s huge! Congratulations

Thank you so much!

Have you ever had moments where you doubted yourself and felt like giving up and changing courses?

I don’t think I’ve ever doubted myself

I love that! Has studying Nutrition changed the way you eat or think about food? Like, are you now that person giving people mini lectures during meal time?

Okayyyyyyyy

This is what I love to doooooo

Can you give me a mini-lecture on any food?

So, let’s talk about Porridge

Apart from the sweetness in the taste, porridge has a lot of nutritional benefits. It contains yam which is a source of carbohydrate hence supplies energy to the body. It also contains palm oil which is a good source of Vitamin E which serves as antioxidants

I’ll advise people to add vegetables and a source of protein (like fish, egg, meat) to their porridge too in order to increase the amount of nutrients they can get from it.

Vegetables are good sources of Vitamins A, they also contain fibre which help to aid digestion and protein helps to build worn out tissues

You can see that it’s not just about sweetness in the taste, the food gives all the nutrients listed above and more

Thank you for that! Let's imagine someone reaches out to you that they want to study your course, what's one thing you'll warn them about and one thing you'll hype them about

I’ll tell the person that Nutrition and dietetics is not all about cooking oooo Infact cooking is like a very tiny part of the course, it is very hard and it is very easy, just fall in love with the course.

The hype? You'd get to do at least one practical in a semester and that means fooddddd is sure😂😂

This is bringing back Food and Nutrition days in secondary school. So can you cook all these foods you recommended?

Please nooooooo! In fact, there are lots of foods I can’t cook but I can cook, but not everything though-you get?

I might go to a culinary school just to have a little knowledge about what I want to prescribe to my patients

Also a small remainder- Nutritionists are food doctors!

Wow, thank you for this reminder. I enjoyed this interview, thank you once again.

I guess your path went from medical doctor to food doctor and I love it for you, thank you for sharing your story with us. We are rooting for you as you keep on sharing knowledge one food at a time.

Got your own “how I ended up in this course story?” whether it was passion, pressure or indecisiveness, drop it below and you might just get a feature.

Don't forget to subscribe and share with other students. More campus stories are on the way and you don't want to miss it!

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1. Some details have been changed for privacy sake