Matt Frakes was not exactly what you would call an ideal dietetics student. In this episode, Tamara talks to Matt about his journey to becoming an RDN. His obstacles included being a first-generation college student, low ACT scores and a poor GPA in his first semester of college. These obstacles are, unfortunately, not uncommon to many students of color. But Matt didn’t let these challenges stop him from reaching his goal of becoming an RDN. He describes the strategies that he used to overcome each of these obstacles and how that led him to where he is today- the Associate Director of Sports Nutrition for the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and PhD candidate at the University of Mississippi. Matt is also a past RDN Spotlight on our blog.

If you’re feeling discouraged about setbacks in your education or career journey, this episode will give you the boost you need!

About Matt

Matthew R. Frakes MFN, RD, CSCS, is a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified strength and conditioning specialist. Mr. Frakes completed his Master's degree at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH. He has a wide range of experience in sports nutrition, strength and conditioning, private practice, and healthcare settings. Building upon a sports nutrition and clinical nutrition background, his research interest focuses on dietary intake and recovery rate from sports-related concussions of collegiate athletes. Currently, Mr. Frakes is pursuing his Ph.D. in Nutrition and works as a Graduate Instructor and Graduate Assistant Sports Dietitian at the University of Mississippi.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrfrakes89/

• Twitter - @SuperiorFrakes

• Instagram - @SuperiorVetEats

• Diversify Dietetics Spotlight - https://www.diversifydietetics.org/blog/2018/11/25/rdn-spotlight-matthew-frakes

• First Place Doctoral Category in 3MT Competition - https://news.olemiss.edu/applied-sciences-students-take-top-two-awards-3mt-competition/

• Website - http://www.superiornutritionandperformance.com/