by James Payne, December 6, 2018

For me, the winter time is always the hardest. With the holiday seasons approaching and the cold weather, it can be easy to want to stay warm inside, under blankets, while watching holiday movies. But, I was able to push through another quarter and continue making different achievements in my career both at school and work.

At work, The Cheesecake Factory, I was able to learn another station and become a Five Star line cook. This means I know five different stations: Salads, Pizza Oven, Broil, Pasta, and Sauté. I memorized over half the menu. In case you don’t know, the menu has over 250 options to choose from. It took me 3 years to learn all these stations while in school and working part time, but I am very happy with my achievement and proud to wear the gold five star hat to work every shift.

At school, I learned so much new information about how to pick a site for future restaurants or hotels, being a leader and how to work and train employees. However, my favorite class this quarter was my mixology course. I have always wanted to learn how to make all the classic cocktails so that I could make them for my friends and family when we get together.  After learning the classics, we are given the opportunity to create our own. For my drink, I wanted to create a drink that was both refreshing and almost soothing. It is made with potato vodka, lemon juice, raspberry liqueur and lavender extract. I think it may be my new favorite summer drink.

As I continue my education with Kendall, I can’t wait for more experiences like these that I can take with for the future both while I am in school and in my career.