Athlete to Aspiring Dietitian: A Conversation with Alexa Hurley

I've been an athlete all my life. I played basketball and soccer in high school, basketball in college my first year and track and field the last two years. As an athlete I started to realize how important food is—not just in training, but in what you do before and after training and what you put into your body. One day, my dad brought me into the grocery store and said, “You've got to start really fueling yourself, start eating things that are better for you to help you perform.” My dad is not into nutrition or anything—he's a chemical engineer, and I thought, “Hmmm, this is interesting.”

When I discovered there's a professional called a registered dietitian, I said, “I love this!” Then I became more interested in cooking and baking. I love food. I love trying new food. I like the way that food makes me feel—why not make a career out of it? I knew by sophomore year of high school that I was going to do what I'm doing now.

I researched UB's program and saw it's a clinically focused program and that they also dip their toes in research. The program is very well known and one of the oldest programs in the region. It's a big school, which is such a difference from my old school. I wanted to go big, and that's what brought me here.

One of my favorite things about this program, which you don't know when you're going in, is the people. They're great supporters and friends and make it enjoyable. This program is rigorous, and there is a lot of stress that comes with it, but they make it fun. The information we learn is so rich and interesting that it's a good kind of stress.

Before I came to UB, I wanted nothing to do with clinical nutrition practice. I was never going to work in a hospital. Then I did an internship in my undergrad program when I worked in a hospital and thought, “This is cool.” I also really like the idea that food is medicine. That's why I love the clinical area; I feel like food can be a cure.

The first thing I'm going to do after graduation is go to Italy because they eat the Mediterranean diet there. I want to see what and how they eat and what they do with their food because the intervention for many conditions we've studied in our medical nutrition therapy class is the Mediterranean diet. Long term, I want to work in a hospital, a big fast-paced clinical center, specifically a teaching hospital. I'm not sure what I'm going to do in terms of specialties—be a regular clinical dietitian or specialize in something like pediatrics, gastrointestinal or renal.

Say yes to everything. Do it because, in my mind, no matter what you do, you're going to learn something or take something from it. Make those memories and learn from them.