Lindsey Smith uelt D.^a-!

00027-15-32
,"lno
November 10,2008

Careers in Nutrition

The Path I Have Chosen

I have been interested in natural healing for as long as I can remember. My family

was not an influence on this. They are very much followers of the allopathic path and

have always wondered where my passion came from at such an early age. My original

plan, since the age of 14, was to become an acupuncturist. When it was time for me to go

off to college, there were no schools offering such an "advanced and open minded"

degree around my small town in Louisiana, so I decided that nutrition would be a good

starting point. Somewhere along the line, life happened and I was forced to take a few

years off from school. Now that I am older, I feel that I am much more matuie in my

studies and I have a greater passion for my career choice. I am still very much interested

in the holistic path, but not as an acupuncturist.

Before coming to the University of Tennessee, I completed massage therapy

school during my "down time", and I am a licensed massage therapist. I love the idea of

combining mind body and spirit into an overall wellness lifestyle. My plan is to open a

private practice offering massage therapy, nutritional consultation, and just recently

added, mental health counseling. I firmly believe that prevention is the best medicine and

it all starts at a young age. With a minor in adolescent health, I feel like I can reach out to

the youth to prevent the prevalent diseases we see today, while still educating adults.