Two SPHHS Students Get Big Opportunity with Big Y
A pair of nutrition majors got valuable experience as interns at Big Y, learning the role of a corporate dietitian.
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Perfect timing and a unique opportunity led nutrition majors Amber LaComfora and Ava Cichonski to snag an internship with the registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) of Big Y supermarket, allowing them to transform their classroom learning into public-focused consumer nutrition education.
“This really interested me for multiple reasons,” said LaComfora, a rising senior. “First, I wanted to provide nutrition education on social media because I think that a lot of misinformation is spread to a vulnerable audience, and I would like to be a voice to combat all the misinformation. Second, I wanted to learn more about nonclinical areas that dietitians can work in.”
“I was a Big Y employee for four years, so I was already aware of the Be-Well with Big Y program and familiar with the company,” said Cichonski, who, like LaCamfora, is a rising senior in the nutrition program.
Their paths to and through the experience, however, shared striking similarities. Both were inspired by Big Y RDNs Carrie Taylor and Andrea Luttrell, a UMass nutrition alumna herself.
“After Carrie and Andrea came into my junior writing class on campus to talk about their experiences as corporate dietitians, I knew I wanted to reach out to ask about internship opportunities to learn more,” Cichonski said.
The internship afforded LaComfora and Cichonski myriad opportunities to talk to multiple consulting dietitians about different areas dietitians work in. They also made an immediate impact at the store, sharing their expertise in nutrition with blog posts on Be-Well with Big Y, the store’s free nutrition service offerings.
“I was tasked with choosing a relevant topic, researching it, and writing an article that could be easily digested by the public,” LaComfora explained. “The topic that I chose was about having healthy habits while on a GLP-1, which is a very prevalent topic in society.”
The duo also helped film content played in-store and on Big Y’s social media channels.
“I got to see how the department works together to create content for all different types of media and how the dietitians add their expertise through the Be-Well content,” Cichonski said.
“I helped to check the mics and learned about word count for timing on scripts, filming angles, and proper setup for filming cooking videos. I also had the opportunity to go on camera and practice reading off the teleprompter to work on proper enunciation and timing,” LaComfora added.
One unexpected but welcome aspect of the experience was the ample opportunity to connect with Big Y’s corporate marketing team. They were also pleasantly surprised by the pivotal role retail dietitians play in securing brand partnerships for the store.
LaComfora and Cichonski credit their UMass education with helping them navigate every element of their internship.
“I gained significant nutrition knowledge and leadership skills during my training in the student nutritionist program on campus, which helped me acclimate to the professional setting smoothly,” Cichonski said. “Additionally, my junior year writing class and my two semesters writing for Her Campus at UMass Amherst helped prepare me for the writing portion of the internship.”
This was another string tying Cichonski and LaComfora’s experiences together.
“My nutrition classes provided me with knowledge that allowed me to discuss different topics with the dietitians,” LaComfora said. “My time as a student nutritionist trainee with the student nutritionist program also provided me with a lot of nutrition knowledge and taught me how to apply and understand what I was learning. My junior year writing class also provided me with a lot of knowledge on writing for the public that I was able to apply to the article that I wrote about GLP-1s.”
Now, both enter their senior year bolstered by the knowledge they gained during their Big Y internship.
“Overall, this experience completely exceeded the expectations that I had going into it,” LaComfora said. “I was able to be immersed in a new setting that I would not have seen or learned much about.”
