Sep. 18, 2025
Story by Ryan Gauthier, rjgauthier@health.missouri.edu
Photos by Gretta Cohoon
Working with student-athletes wasn’t exactly on Alyssa Guin’s radar.
But when the senior had the opportunity to spend the summer interning with the Mizzou Football Performance Nutrition team — all health science majors complete an internship before graduating — Guin discovered a potential career path.
“I didn’t even know that was something I wanted to do or if I was even interested in it before the internship,” she said. “This has been a true blessing in disguise.”
Guin, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in health science with an emphasis in health and wellness, was already planning to go into nutrition or dietetics. She had not, however, considered doing that sort of work with elite athletes.
Initially, she felt nervous about entering this high-stakes environment. Thanks to the hands-on nature of the internship, she has dispelled those anxieties and discovered a true passion for sports nutrition.
A recipe for success
To be clear, there is no average day for Mizzou Football Performance Nutrition. But generally speaking, the duties begin before most people are out of bed.
“I’m working early in the morning — usually 5:30 or 6 a.m. — to get supplements ready for players so they get those first thing in the morning,” Guin said.
After meticulously preparing supplements ahead of intense morning workouts, the team shifts gears to post-workout recovery. Guin and other interns meticulously prep an array of protein shakes in a small army of blenders, measuring ingredients and keeping everything chilled to guarantee freshness when it’s time for student-athletes to refuel their tanks.
Some of their creations are designed to help players gain weight by putting on muscle; others are meant to help student-athletes maintain their weight or lean out by reducing body fat while adding muscle. One of Guin’s favorite items to make blends chocolate milk with Oreos, graham crackers, hot cocoa mix, olive oil, honey, ice and eight heaping scoops of protein powder.
“I don’t like drinking it, though,” she said, laughing. “It tastes too much like protein powder.”
The Performance Nutrition team also sets up “hydration stations” around the workout facility to keep football players hydrated during lifts.
When she’s not prepping food, Guin is constantly on the move: She restocks fridges, retrieves supplies from storage areas beneath the stadium, and organizes incoming deliveries at a nearby loading dock. It’s a nonstop cycle of cleaning, organizing and restocking the recovery fridge, which provides players with quick and easy access to essential items.
“They’re trying their hardest to do everything they possibly can and working out intensely,” she said. “So we want to support them along the way and help them achieve peak performance.”
Learning by doing
For Guin, who learns best “by actually doing something,” the summer internship has provided endless hands-on learning and a significant leap in her professional development.
She credits her supervisors, Liz Stuart and Kennedy Fitzgerald, for providing guidance not only through instruction but also via practical demonstration. The collaborative atmosphere among the team of interns and full-time staff means everyone is actively learning from each other in real time.
Stuart said she appreciates the unique perspective interns like Guin bring to the team, noting that many College of Health Sciences students already have exposure to the sports science, education and physiological demands of training through their academic coursework. She said the internship gives those students a chance to see the evidence-based, individualized nutrition planning that the team provides.
“We try to make our students’ experiences as positive and comprehensive as possible, so they enjoy and appreciate all that sports nutrition can do for student-athletes,” Stuart said. “Interning in this environment is a great way to directly experience the day-to-day grind of what we do.”
Guin confirmed her classroom experiences have come in handy, mentioning how lessons learned in her Ethics of Health Care class translated into real-world situations. Even a seemingly simple task like preparing a shake carries significant responsibility, she said.
“If you put in too much of something or not enough of another thing, that could mess with a player’s recovery,” she said. “It’s important to own your mistakes and start over. I would say my ethics class really helped me understand that.”
While her ultimate career destination is “still TBD,” Guin said the summer internship with Mizzou Football Performance Nutrition has clarified her focus on sports nutrition. She will stay on with the team as a student volunteer throughout her senior year to continue learning and growing, and she plans to pursue a graduate degree in the field.
Whether she stays at Mizzou for her graduate studies or lands closer to home in the Chicago area, Guin said she’s grateful she took a leap of faith. Thanks to a summer packed with active learning and hands-on experiences, she’s equipped for any future challenges that might come her way.
“I’d just say it was a great experience,” she said. “I’m so happy that I pushed myself to do it, even if it was out of my comfort zone.”
