By Lauren Poindexter
In the final year of my undergraduate career, I find tremendous joy as I reflect on my time at Cornell University, learning the Food Science curriculum, and meeting the multitude of fascinating people at the university. There is one experience however that I would be remiss to not highlight as it has opened doors for scholarships, changed my career trajectory, and provided an invaluable experiential learning platform. My time in the Food Processing and Development Laboratory (FPDL) as an intern with Rob Ralyea has been crucial to my success as a student and is surely the highlight of my Cornell career thus far.
As a sophomore I personally struggled to find how to apply the Food Operations and Management concentration in food science to a career or to job prospects. Looking for opportunities to find my way and get involved in the department, I asked Rob if I could create an independent study in the FPDL learning about the Big Red Cheddar production and the other processes occurring there. He accepted my proposal and the rest is history, so to speak.
I started out packaging cheese, applying the principles of food safety, preparing me well for FDSC 3960 Food Safety Assurance. Periodically the other interns and I would assist in cheese production. Learning about cheese from pasteurization to packaging in the FPDL was the defining moment in my Cornell career where courses like FDSC 2000 Intro Physicochemical and Biological Aspects of Foods, FDSC 4210 Food Engineering Principles, and FDSC 3940 Food Microbiology finally clicked as I was learning by doing. To some extent I even applied my knowledge of marketing as we prepared a special cheddar for the Sesquicentennial.
Reflection has also allowed me to realize that my experience in the FPDL would not have been as successful without the patience and guidance of everyone there. Rob Ralyea and Mackenzie Brown in particular made the space comfortable to ask questions and make mistakes, providing an incomparable learning environment. Deanna Simons was always there to teach the interns GMPs in the plant and exhibit incredible patience as I learned how to make labels. Keeley O’Brien who, for a time, helped to produce not only the Big Red Cheddar, but her cheese for Keeley’s Cheese Co. taught me most of the technical knowledge I have about cheese over the course of the intern experience and additionally part-time this past summer. Gary and Charlie were always willing to answer questions as they produced pudding and yogurt in the FPDL. Finally, the other interns that have come and gone also made the experience what it was as we were able to learn together and work more efficiently.
As I begin my senior year, I look forward to continuing my internship in the FPDL. As a result I will also attend the New York State Cheese Manufacturers’ conference, hopefully take more Dairy Extension courses, and of course continue to assist in production of Big Red Cheddar. I cannot adequately express how grateful I am for this opportunity. It has simply been life changing to work in the FPDL and would recommend the experience to any student.
