Nacufs at Penn State! : Blog 10

          Well it's been a little while since my last post on here! In fact so much has happened that all four of us interns will be posting a blog this weekend! It's been a busy and eventful time at Penn State. I won't spill all of the beans because I have to leave something for the others to write about! Anyway, here's some of these last week's experiences.

Although Brittany is going to blog about our D.C. trip I thought I would share a few photos! We had a great time. Seeing all of the monuments and the capitol in real life was almost overwhelming. I'm a huge House of Cards fan, so it was great to see the real deal.

The White House from afar.

Obligatory Washington monument post.

We had an informative session last week about Finance and Budgeting. We were walked through the various budgets that Auxiliary and Business service controls; over 70 budgets in total! We learned how to read the budget sheets. We were taught how to read and understand, year to date formats, forecasting, and how to compares actual to estimates. For example, if a certain budget uses 140% of their estimated amount that is something that needs to be looked into. Either someone is spending too much money or there was some sort of unexpected large expense; such as an equipment replacement or repair.

We started our management rotation these last two weeks. Ive learned so much and getting this hands on time is more valuable than anything I could have asked for. Ive learned all about ordering and taking inventory. We have kept track of our par stocks and gained a better understanding of the FoodPro program. Out in the dining rooms we have learned to have a keener eye to look out for problems. I feel more trained to look for problems with the flow of guests through the dining hall. At first I was very nervous about taking charge as a manager, and the idea of directing employees seemed daunting. This was made worse by the fact that a lot of the employees are much older than I am. Now I have more confidence in my ability to direct employees. If I see a problem on the line or in the dining hall I am ready to instruct and help to solve problems.

Working in the dining halls was also fun because we got to celebrate the Fourth of July. We decorated Pollock Commons with red, white, and blue to really show our students a good time. Decorating was a lot of fun and gave us a chance to be creative.

 One of our dining areas in Pollock is super hero themed. So we framed the more patriotic heroes with rope lights!

   Jess posed as the most American girl of all time.

Finally, at the end of the day we got to enjoy the famous Penn State firework show. It's one the longest and largest in the country. I've never seen fireworks on that scale before. It was incredible!! Now we have one more week of management rotation left. We also have to present our final project and put on a farewell luncheon. With all of that on our plates this last leg of the internship should be very busy. We're nearing the end but our experience is still going strong!