Jessica Hansen

“The whole field of dietetics is taking all of the knowledge you have and educating your patients in a way they can understand.”

-Jessica Hansen

Jessica Hansen aspires to help people by being a clinical dietitian. In Jessica’s free time, she likes to try new cafes, read, practice yoga, and spend time with friends.

Heddleson intern Jessica Hansen applies proficiencies in outreach to dietetics major

Throughout high school, Jessica Hansen was certain that she wanted to go into the health field. After shadowing multiple professionals in different fields, she found her calling when she shadowed a clinical dietitian.

“I followed [the clinical dietitian] around for two hours, and right then I knew that [being a dietitian] was what I wanted to do,” Jessica said.

It only took two hours for Jessica to determine what career path she wanted to pursue, but she knew she needed to dedicate more time to her studies to achieve her career goals. Jessica decided to pursue her degree at Iowa State University, the only university in Iowa with an accredited dietetics program.

Jessica is now a senior in dietetics with plenty of experience under her belt, including the Heddleson Internship with Human Sciences Extension and Outreach.

“I just went digging, read about [the Heddleson internship], and it looked interesting,” Jessica said.

Jessica worked under a dietitian in Polk County teaching kids how food gets from the farm to the table. Her favorite part of the internship was learning how to create lesson plans for the kids.

“The whole field of dietetics is taking all of the knowledge you have and educating your patients in a way they can understand,” she said.

Jessica noticed that her experiences in the College of Human Sciences could help future students as well. This year, she is a second-year CHS Ambassador. Being an ambassador allows Jessica to guide prospective and current students by giving advice and insight on the dietetics major and student opportunities at Iowa State.

Through her internship and being an ambassador, Jessica has combined her fascination for science and interest in patient outreach to refine her skills for her future as a clinical dietitian.