by Leslie Burch, September 18, 2017

Summer quarters all seemed to fly by, especially this one! This quarter, I completed Capstone. It was a long six months, working with my team to create our restaurant, Edesia. Edesia was a modern, causal Italian concept in the heart of Wicker Park. Capstone taught me a lot about working with different people and working through a project together. I was the leader and finance officer of the team. One of the biggest things I took away from Capstone is that as the leader, it is more important to look at the bigger picture and trust your team to create the pieces. I also took home the award for best financial plan, which was one of my goals from the very beginning.

I had lots of guidance from various instructors to achieve these goals and accomplishments as well as an amazing team. My favorite part of Capstone was when the culinary students were creating their dishes for the judges. Three of us from the team showed up to support our culinary person, even though it was not required and we didn’t have to do anything. It really showed that through all the struggles we had, we were still able to come together as a team to support one another.

Capstone was a great finish to my time on campus at Kendall. Next quarter, I go on internship. I have accepted a position at The Drake Hotel in the food and beverage department. I am very excited to apply what I have learned at Kendall to the real world.