“I spent most of my time working in the natural cheese, hot-fill and micro labs,” she says. “I routinely tested cheese functionality and composition. I communicated with production operators on how to adjust the percent moisture, fat, fat dry matter, salt and lactic acid of raw blends and online cooks with the goal of meeting specifications for that given formula upon next-day evaluation.”

Suhr was also able to assist the microbiology lab with swabbing and reading plates of salmonella, listeria, yeast and mold. She verified pre-operation procedures with sanitation partners and searched for soap foam and cheese residue on equipment with a flashlight.

The biggest challenge for Suhr was adjusting to plant life. “Oftentimes, the interns would help hand-case when machines malfunctioned, so we experienced the laborious monotony of performing the same task on a production line for hours and hours,” she says. “It also took me a long time to feel confident communicating recipe adjustments to production operators. Many of them had 20 years of experience over me, so it was intimidating to correct their batches and to add or remove such large quantities of ingredients like a block of fat to a 1,000-pound batch.”

While the global pandemic impacted Suhr’s internship with the cancellation of a trip to Green Bay and other in-person social events, her workplace remained mostly unchanged. “Although Southwest Missouri became a COVID-19 hot spot as the summer progressed, the plant never stopped operating,” she says. “Plant life didn’t feel very different since we already wore so much PPE and practiced good hygiene. Absences in the lab also gave me the opportunity to take on more responsibility.”

Luckily, Suhr was able to draw on her past professional experiences and coursework to succeed in her position. “My experience as a cheesemaking intern at UDairy Creamery really prepared me for this position,” she says. “Making artisan cheese in an educational environment was a helpful way to understand the basic cheesemaking process, ask questions and have hands-on experience. My food analysis class also helped me understand the theory behind the different analytical equipment that I routinely used in the hot-fill lab.”

Suhr is interested in returning to Schreiber after graduating to partake in a quality assurance management trainee program that would allow her to tour different plants across the country before placing her in a permanent spot. “Schreiber Foods has a lot of room for growth in leadership and the culture is like a family,” she says. “I was able to gain the respect of the operators at my plant and learned their wisdom and tricks of the trade.”

As for working in a new state so far from home, Suhr says this internship was a welcome surprise. “A summer in Missouri was an adventure,” she says. “Personally, I never expected to enjoy life in Missouri, but I hardly knew anything about it. This position helped me determine whether I’d want to live in the Midwest working for a big food company. I met interns from food science programs that I wouldn’t have met on the East Coast, including Purdue, Kansas State and University of Kentucky. I made an effort to make friends, explore and get to know local people at work and at my Airbnb. Being open-minded helped me see the charm in the small towns and beauty in the parks and farms.”

Suhr urges fellow seniors on the job hunt to branch off campus and consider opportunities across the country. “Embrace the discomfort of moving far away from home,” she says. “If you get stuck in a homesick mindset, you prevent yourself from blossoming professionally and personally. Give a new place a fair chance.”