Yassine Barakat

Responsibilities

During the internship, my responsibilities included ensuring everything in the facility run smoothly, from harvesting, processing, and selling products every Friday. Also, one of our responsibilities was cleaning the machines to ensure they were set for the following day. We also worked as a group to accomplish our daily tasks.

Accomplishments

I had the chance to make two products (jerky and cured meat), with the help of my managers. The full-time staff were also a helpful resource in assisting us with the knowledge to create the right recipe. We had the chance to travel to South Carolina with all the staff from the meat lab to participate in the AAMP competition which would be judging the products we have created.

Learning experience

Of all the greatest lessons I've learned throughout my experience, the two most important were time management and teamwork. I would break up complex tasks into parts and steps to better plan and manage my time when dealing with any project. I also learned that everyone's happiness is equally important, especially working in a group. Starting off as complete strangers, we built a respectful relationship to be able to communicate effectively and achieve the greatest results.

What advice would you give?

This internship is beneficial for any student in food science because they will have the opportunity to learn everything related to meat processing and food safety. I also got the chance to work alongside skilled professionals observing their techniques and practicing on my own. This job also allowed me to meet a lot of CEOs during the short courses we did in the meat lab and during our planned travel to South Carolina, where we also sat and spoke to them.