Penn State Blog 7: Exploring the World

                  It's been another fantastic week here at Penn State. Every day we face some new and exciting activity. As always our week has been packed. To start the week off we met with Melissa to discuss food allergies. We learned all about how food allergies work, how to handle them, and what Penn State is doing for students with food allergies. Food allergies are a very serious concern and can be life threatening. Penn State creates menu cards and provides nutrition information for every single item they offer. If a student has food allergies, the Student Nutrition Assistants will create personalized menus for them. These menus are color coded to show what the student cannot eat, what could be cross contaminated, and what will always be safe for them. I think it's incredible that Penn State Food Service is so involved in this way. It's something that needs to be much more common.
                  We also went to Belleville with Chef Bill this week. Belleville has an Amish market where vendors sell produce, pastries, and other items. We explored there for one morning which was really fun. It was great to see some of the traditional Amish goods. We also stuck around for a livestock auction. At the auction we saw people bid on pigs, horses, and milk cows. It was interesting to learn about what the buyers were looking for in each animal which Chef did a great job explaining.

                                             The group chilling with an Amish buggy.

               We had a great time out on the lake with Lisa Wandel. She took us kayaking one evening. Lisa was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and the area. She really made us feel at home on the lake. We played games such as Marco Polo, and even played a version of  "pole-bending" but with kayaks instead of horses. It was a blast!

                                                           Professional kayak team.

              We also got to dress up like adults and take some professional photos on campus! We had photos taken at the famous Nittany Lion Statue and at the Penn State Arboretum. While we were all anxious to get some camera time, it was about 90 degrees out that day. But we decided to sweat through our troubles and had a splendid time.

The gang along with our favorite mascot.

             
          It wasn't all fun and games this week. We had to get serious at some point. On Thursday we attended Sensitivity Training. This was a very informative session during which we learned a lot about the LGBTQQIA community (and yes, after the training I now know what all of the letters stand for!). This was a great way to learn how to be respectful and make sure no one gets offended in the workplace. It can be a sensitive subject for some people and I'm very happy that  Penn State is striving to be a place where anyone can feel comfortable and valued.
               All in all, this week had a very diverse array of things to do. We had a lot of fun and learned just as much as ever. Thanks again Penn!