by Emily Wooten, March 8, 2017

I feel that I have grown substantially this quarter. I finished all my classes in the Baking and Pastry program except for my internship, but I have had to postpone my internship a quarter. I decided to start my first quarter in the Culinary BA program early thanks to the Kendall College Trust scholarship! In this quarter, most of the classes are outside of the kitchen, and more classwork and homework related. The classes have pushed me to my best in a different way than I had grown used to in my kitchen classes. I can easily say that all my classes have taught me so many things that I feel are so relevant to my career that I didn’t know beforehand.

I also have learned an invaluable lesson the hard way. Picking and getting an internship is a lot harder than it looks. I had finally settled on a choice, but they weren’t busy enough in the winter, thus why I postponed my internship. I should have been more direct with them, but they led me on to believe that I had basically gotten the position, and that we were just going through some last formalities. Not until near the end of the quarter did they let me know that they were considering other people for the position as well, and they ended up not giving me the internship. This was hard to take, and try to figure out my next move. I honestly felt overwhelmed by what I had to figure out. Out of this situation, I have learned that I need to be more direct with people, and to look at multiple options at once. Now that I am not hyper-focused on that one internship, I have realized other doors that were not open last year. Actually, there is a strong possibility that I could get my first pick again!

All in all, this quarter has been a little rough, but I learned so many things – both good and bad. Even after all the fuss, I still can’t wait to see what my internship future holds. Also, I am very excited, more than before, to continue in the Culinary BA program from the classes I have taken this quarter. I know it was the right choice and I can’t wait to see what classes I will have and what I will learn next!