Two CWU Nutrition students earn awards from leading national organization

The Washington State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (WSAND) is our state’s chapter of the nation’s largest food and nutrition professional organization, dedicated to fostering best practices in all aspects of the nutrition profession.

This year, at the annual WSAND conference, the organization recognized two Central Washington University Nutrition students with some of their top honors, giving them a leg up on the competition as they build their careers.

The WSAND presented Nutrition master’s graduate Kivima Acevedo (’24 and ’25) with the Outstanding Dietetic Intern award, and senior Food Science and Nutrition major Delaney Cobbs with the Outstanding Didactic Program in Dietetics Student Award at its annual conference April 19-21 in Vancouver.

Kivima Acevedo

Acevedo’s journey to excellence in the field of nutrition started with a role model; namely, her older sister, Fatima.

“I came to CWU because my sister went here and loved it,” Acevedo said. “I felt it was only appropriate to continue my education at CWU, because my experience as an undergrad here was just wonderful.”

After initially looking to go into hospitality, Acevedo’s horizons were expanded by the introduction to a nutrition class offered as part of her breadth requirements at CWU. Through it, she saw an opportunity to give back to the community that raised her in Marysville.

“Growing up, I always heard about how Hispanic food wasn’t healthy and there wasn’t anything we could do about that,” Acevedo said. “With my degree, I want to help the community I grew up in find ways to challenge that assumption and eat better in ways that still follow our culture.”

After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Nutrition in 2024, Acevedo continued straight into the one-year Nutrition master’s program at CWU, which she completed in 2025. Following her second graduation in as many years, she began her internship rotation, a required part of the degree which exposes recent graduates to a multitude of different applications of the field, from school cafeterias to clinical settings and beyond.

Starting in September 2025, Acevedo found that her history of community engagement and dedication to service made her a perfect fit for the wide variety of roles the internship would demand she fill.

“Even during my undergrad, I was able to use my knowledge of nutrition to help out around the community,” she said. “In working with APOYO, I had a broad set of responsibilities, including working with kids, and I think those experiences helped lay the foundation for the work that won me this award.”

Acevedo was selected for the WSAND’s Outstanding Dietetic Intern award following a nomination by CWU Dietetics Internship Director Katy Williams, in response to heaps of positive feedback she received about Acevedo’s performance from supervisors at her various placements.

“They were impressed with my work ethic, especially when it came to coordinating with others like the lunch ladies, doctors, and surgeons,” Acevedo said. “I work hard to be able to incorporate feedback into my work, and they took notice of that.”

With the award on her record and a job in outpatient care lined up in Marysville, Acevedo sees the award as proof that her family’s investment in her has been worthwhile.

“This award is representative of all the effort my parents put into sending me to college,” she said. “It means so much to me to be able to show them that their hard work paid off.”

Delaney Cobbs

As a lifelong wrestler, Cobbs always knew she wanted to pursue a career in sports healthcare, although she didn’t realize which direction she wanted to take it in until she was two years into a degree program at Washington State University.

“I’ve been a wrestler for 13 years, and nutrition was always a huge part of that,” she said. “I wanted to go into sports nutrition, and my research told me CWU was the place to go. It’s been amazing to get into the specifics of nutrition and learn more about the field I want to pursue.”

With her prerequisites out of the way, Cobbs spent her two undergraduate years at CWU laser-focused on nutrition, while coaching wrestling at Ellensburg High School on the side and building a reputation for herself as a dedicated student and mentor. In spite of her stellar academic record, being selected for the WSAND’s Outstanding Didactic Program in Dietetics Student award after being nominated by CWU Professor of Health Sciences Nicole Stendall-Hollis was entirely unexpected.

“The award surprised me, because I feel like I’m just doing my schoolwork as well as I can,” Cobbs said. “When I go for something, I go all the way, and that’s led to a lot of success. But it also just ends up feeling like the way things are, so it’s nice to be reminded that my hard work is paying off.”

Never one to do anything by half-measures, Cobbs is starting her nutrition master’s program this summer, immediately after graduating in June. Two years of hands-on experience capped off with a free trip to the annual WSAND conference have her feeling ready to take on any challenge her education might have in store.

“Knowing that I have all of these experiences really gives me an extra boost of confidence going into my master’s degree,” Cobbs said. “Going to the conference gave me fresh perspectives on the work that I do, because that’s all about the new processes and research in dietetics.”

Cobbs is especially excited about the prospect of writing her master’s thesis.

“Having the chance to conduct research will be a really good experience for my career,” she said. “I don’t know what my thesis will be about yet, but I’m excited to get started on it.”

Through it all, Cobbs attributes her success to the strength of the faculty at CWU, and she knows that they will be there for her as she takes the next step on her path to her career goals.

“We have really good faculty here, with a lot of different experiences to share,” she said. “The professors really care about us and want us to be as ready for our careers as we can.”