Some students start college knowing exactly what they want to do, but that wasn’t the case for transfer student Raya Beerbower.
Beerbower is originally from Rockford, Ohio, and spent three years at Huntington (Ind.) University studying biology. She entered college as a chemistry major, but she said she quickly realized that was not for her and switched to a biology major. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with a biology degree but was interested in the medical field.
Beerbower started to think about pharmacy school and looked into the program at Ohio Northern University in Ada. She then transferred to Ohio Northern to to finish her final year of her biology degree and begin their pharmacy program.
Still, Beerbower decided she was more interested in pursuing her passion of health, nutrition and helping people with what they should be eating.
“Pharmacy is completely the opposite of dietetics, because it is not a holistic approach at all,” said Beerbower.
Once she decided to pursue dietetics, she found she could easily transfer into Bluffton’s dietetics program. Since Huntington University is also a Christian university, she had already taken the religious general education courses which helped accomodate a smoother transition.
“She’s the first transfer student I’ve ever had to have every science and biology class done before transferring,” said Deb Myers, professor of food and nutrition and dietetic program director. “She is able to double up on nutrition classes because of that and will be finished in a year and a half.”
Although Bluffton is similar to Huntington, according to Beerbower, she said she really loves the people here and appreciates how nice everyone is.
Along with her passion for fitness, Beerbower said she loves to research food and understand how it fuels the body.
“You basically are what you eat, and people don’t really realize that,” said Beerbower.
Looking into the future, Beerbower said her ideal job would to be a dietician and personal trainer at a large fitness center.
