Okay so now that I've started Baking Club, I'm seeing how it's turning out to be exactly what my Exhibit is. I didn't start BC as a padding to my exhibit, but the more meetings that I've conducted, the more than I'm seeing how how the two coincide. Not only do i have to plan a menu, make grocery list, bake, and plan, but I'm also learning great people skills (I hope!) by doing all of this in a classroom esque manner. My goal for Baking Club is to just get people who want to bake together, but I just want them to have FUN. This seems like an easy thing since it's BAKING, which is GREAT, but it's proving to be a little more difficult than I anticipated to get them to talk. I'm sure that because I'm a senior and most of them are freshmen, that they are a little nervous and blah blah blah, but hopefully that will end soon. Tomorrow Mrs. Nobles and I are taking them in the van to Bloom so that we can go grocery shopping as a group. Our first bake sale is going to be on behalf of Robotics...I have to say, I was SO excited when Joe asked me to put on a bake sale. This is the first one, and I'm happy to see that people were listening to by presentation. : )
As far as restaurant visits go, I'm eagerly anticipating my first one. I've contact Mrs. Carroll about igniting the visits now that hockey is over, so hopefully I'll be getting some emails soon from the restaurants.
I also really have to start going to the FA CAFE soon so that they can show me how they set up and plan...that will just give me even more of an edge come the Board Meetings. :)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Entries from last Jan to Oct
January 15th, 2008
This is my first journal entry of many. Tonight I went to the Senior Exhibit meeting and I think that it went well. I was shocked to see that I actually had to have an entry THIS very month, but all is well. Mrs. Aldrow told us that the worst thing that we could do is procrastinate, which was like telling an AA member not to drink. I have been trying with every fiber in my being to do just that, so I thought I’d get on the “good foot” so to speak and just get this out of the way now. Tomorrow I will ask Mrs. Nobles to be my mentor because she’s just such a hot commodity- I don’t want someone else to do it before me! Initially I thought that I would ask Mrs. Carroll to be my mentor because of her extensive knowledge of food and because I love her and she loves me, however, I think that we are too good of friends. We were told that it was best to pick someone that you get along with, but also someone that will inspire you to get things done. I don’t know what it is, but disappointed Mrs. Nobles has always kept me working my hardest, at least while I was in her class. I have a lot of respect for her, but I know that we also get along well (at least I think so), so I know that I could accomplish a lot with her. Also, she is the Cooking Club…kid? That seemed like it should have had alliteration… I don’t know, whatever you want to define her as; she cooks. At this point I need to figure out if I want to do something with cooking to get me some experience for my apps, or if I want to do something that I may not otherwise get a chance to try. So…hopefully I can talk to my new mentor about that tomorrow…
January 16, 2008
I just wanted to say that Mrs. Nobles accepted my request of mentoring. That’s a really good sign
February 7, 2008
Not much to say except that I’ve had my first legit meeting with Mrs. Nobles. We discussed what it exactly it is that I will be doing for my exhibit…or at least roughly outlined it. We’re thinking that I’ll take some cooking classes (possibly at Wittinghams) and do some catering of some sort. She asked me to call up Wittinghams on behalf of cooking club which was great because if I can incorporate cooking club into my project, I’ll be able to give back to the school…hopefully in a lasting way. I’ll call within the next few days, after I get back from MD this weekend. I hope that I can set up my own cooking classes as well, or just establish myself there, make some friends- it would be cool to get a job there over the summer maybe?
February 14th, 2008
Happy Valentines Day! For Cooking Club Mrs. Nobles asked me to go check out Wittinghams’ downtown to see if they would offer our class cooking classes. I went down there for the first time and I loved it! I didn’t have a chance to look around, but I will definitely be going back there. Anyway, the classes are offered, but they’re like 50 bucks a person, so that’s a little steep for cooking classes, but I will keep that in mind if decide I want to take some classes for myself for future S.E stuff.
February 27, 2008
So today is the Wednesday of Winter Break and I am SO glad. Not only because it’s break, duly needed, but also because I’m doing a little bit of traveling as well today I went to and am at Virginia Tech and I LOVE it. I also visited Radford…not lovin it. It was really crappy, the library was not much to behold, but that’s okay because it’s nice to know that there’s a school out there that I could already get into. Tomorrow I’m headed out to see the broster at JMU and I know that will be great too. Tech is just so great, I went to the info session before the tour and it was so awesome. The guy was talking about admissions and he said that Tech combines your best ACT and SAT scores on the individual parts, which is amazing, I don’t know any other school that does that. It’s a stretch for sure, but it’s really awesome to have a goal in mind now. They have an amazing dietetics program, I know because I spoke with one of the professors, and was really impressed with what she had to say. Like I said, I know that it’ll be a stress, but Tech in the back of my mind will push me forward when I have senior exhibit work to do. Also maybe I can apply some of the things that Dr. Clark said so I can get some background going. Maybe I can include some things about how food affects you? Don’t know, but something to think about!
March 8th, 2008
I took the SAT for the first time the other day. To be honest I feel really indifferent about it at this point. I mean, realize that it’s a really big deal, but I mean- I really only found out about a month ago that I was going to take it in March, and I’d just come back from a hectic college road trip with mom and dad. Keeping that in mind, I don’t have the highest expectations…I don’t really have any expectations though because I thought that I was going to do really well on my PSAT, but I really didn’t do all that well. I just hope that I broke 1000…I need to have another meeting with my dear mentor so we can make some exhibit plans.
March 24, 2008
Okay I had a meeting with Mrs. Nobles last week and I am so stoked! I’ve really been searching for the “cool factor” in my exhibit and I think that we found it. We’ve talked about catering before, but we never really figured out what I could do with that for the application. I could have catered some faculty luncheon or something, but that’s a little lack luster for my taste. So I thought, hey what if I catered PROM next year??? I know that it’s daunting, but it’s exciting too. I mean, as long as the food doesn’t suck or kill anyone, this could be really cool. Mrs. Nobles, knower of all things with substance, happened to know of the lady who’s been catering for us in past years and knows that that same lady gives classes at Whittinghams. The plan thusly is for me to get in touch with Bistro Betham, who offers classes as well, establish myself somewhat by taking classes asap, and then go to Whittinghams with some credentials. I have to get in touch SOON with Bistro, but I’m thinking that I could take some classes over Spring Break, which is in about three weeks anyway. Besides, that way I could take several classes in a row instead of sporadically throughout my crazy life. YAY, this is good.
April 3, 2008
So I drove to Bistro and have found out some semi-bad news. Their idea of a cooking class involves a middle aged dinner party as far as I can tell, so that’s a no go. At this point I think the best thing for me to do is to just go to Whittinghams and take classes there. I’ll be home during Spring Break, so that’s a superb time to take them. I think maybe four or five would be good, but it might get a little steep at $45 a pop. I think that I also need to start looking at some potential summer jobs. I don’t know what it’s going to be yet- maybe I can work at Whittinghams? Or maybe I’ll want to be catering? Catering would be better probably thought because then I would be getting tons of experience that could help me prepare for the grand finale i.e. prom. Dad had a good idea- I should check out the happenings at prom THIS year so I can decide on whether I’m going to be able to undertake this task. Good stuff- peace out.
April 17, 2008
Its Spring Break and I called Whittingham’s to schedule some cooking classes so I could get some done before I ask that lady for her help. I got one for Saturday and even though I asked twice, I was not sure what the class entailed. However, today they called to tell me that the class was cancelled. I was disappointed, but I just rescheduled for next Thursday. It’s an all salmon class. I’m a little hesitant because he said that it would last about 2 ½ hours and it starts at 6. It’s going to be a long day, and then that weekend it’s prom, but it’ll be so fun.
April 25, 2008
Last night I went to my first cooking class!!! I can now cure, poach and create salmon cakes! Hooray! It was so much fun, the chef was David…something. I was definitely was the youngest one there by approximately 35 years, but it was so great. For 40 bucks I got to learn those things and then we ate all the awesome things that we made. Oh yeah, we also made a salmon salad and it was so delish. I happen to notice that the chef jacket he was wearing said Sedexho on it, which I quickly recognized to be the same company that works at Seacobeck….teheee so I stayed after to talk to him. Long story short, he suggested that I talk to Susan Worrell, which is JUST the lady that Mrs. Nobles, Mrs. Hunley, and I were talking about. So that was REALLY cool. I told him that I was planning on interning with her, but he suggested that I just apply for the job. He also told me that she is super nice and that she’s a great lady, so I cannot wait to speak with her. My next cooking class is in a few weeks and I believe that she’s the one teaching it. It’s all about noodles, so that will be sweet. I’ll just be my usual self and hope for the best.
May 1, 2008
I cannot believe that it’s already May! I know that I am writing this journal having only one week pass by, but I’m on a schedule and if I don’t do it now, I feel like I’ll screw up my routine I’ve finally gotten down. Besides that, I have a lot to say. I went to another cooking class on Tuesday where it was centered around Asian noodle dishes. Susan was not the one teaching the class, but I had I great “thyme” anyway. I feel like I’m making all these cool new friends… the reason it’s cool is because they’re all from other generations. How many teenagers get that opportunity? I learned a lot and got tons of notes again, along with my recipes. I decided to ask Meredith Beckett, the teacher, if she knew Susan and, as luck would have it, she does! She too couldn’t have given her anymore of a glowing review. “Oh you’ll love her! She’s a great chef and she’s so nice”. I must have made a good impression on her because she told me to give her an email and she promised to email Susan on my behalf that night. I was so thankful for her help, but she gave me a warning. She said that because it’s the end of the year it was likely that Susan wouldn’t get back to me for awhile…which was totally fine! I talked to Mrs. Nobles about it yesterday and we decided that it would be best for me to just call her in two weeks if there was no response. BUT- Susan emailed me back the same day that Meredith did!! I’m so excited, I really feel like things are getting underway for me. I’m so glad to be getting these small details out of the way now, so I don’t have to stress out about them later along with all my exams.
Just so I can remember:
Hi Jamie,
I enjoyed meeting you at the class last night and hope to see you again at another one. You did a great job!
I just wanted to let you know that I e-mailed Susan this morning and sent your name and address to her and mentioned your senior project. She's probably really busy right now with graduation in 2 weeks but I'm sure she'll get back to you as soon as she can. She's a really neat person and a super cooking instructor. If, for some reason, you don't hear back from her in a few weeks, let me know and I'll get in touch with her again.
Good luck with your end-of-the-year projects, exams being one of them, I'm sure!! Tell Mrs. Calloway I said Hi!
Take care.
Meredith
And my first Susan Email is:
Hi Jamie,
I received an email for Meredith Beckett this morning about your senior project for school next year. I would be delight to speak with you, meet with you, or spend time with you concerning your project. Below is listed my contact information and in addition here is my cell number 540-903-3793. Let me know how I can be of assistance to you.
SUSAN
I can’t believe that she included her cell phone number, I have a really good feeling about meeting her. I’ll be calling her within the next few days- after I meet with Mrs. Nobles again about what we should talk about when we set up our first meeting.
May 15th, 2008
Tomorrow I have my meeting with Susan, I’ll write more about what happens later. I’m actually not nervous at all, I have a good feeling about it…
May 16th, 2008
I can’t believe how well everything went! I went to the Jepson Alumni Center where I met with Susan. While there she told me that she actually couldn’t help me too much because she takes care of the sales aspect of the catering, she also told me that she was very interested in doing all that she could. She gave me two brochure-esque pamphlet/books that she gives out to her clients/will be giving them out to her clients (they’re new); one for weddings and one for business ventures. She said that it would be really cool to include all aspects of catering in my project, even if it didn’t necessarily have anything to do with Prom itself. She also called in a woman who could help me more, whose name is Thais? She was super nice as well, she’s actually the director of catering (or something really similar) for most if not all of the events that UMW puts on. Susan reiterated to Thais all the things that I talked to her about for the previous 45 minutes, and Thais seemed into the idea of me helping her out this summer. She said that she usually hires people from JM, so I don’t see it being a problem for her to hire me as well, and since Susan liked me so much, I’m feeling nice and confident about a job We’re setting up another meeting after exams so that the three of us can lay out my project timeline- they were so extremely helpful. Thais is going to bring an application for me to fill out. I have to email them about having Mrs. Nobles coming with me- I know that if she comes with me she’ll help all three of us with knowing what’s too much to take on and what isn’t. I’m planning that to be on June 2cd at this point. I’m so excited right now about all my plans, and it seems that everyone else is too, which is refreshing.
May 30th, 2008
Not too much going on now…I’ve had a meeting with the mentor, and she’s pleased with how things seem to be shaping up. We’re planning on meeting with Susan together sometime in the near future to hammer out the details of my actual job and things of that nature. I’m looking forward to my mentor and my …Susan? To meet, I think that they will really like each other, or at the very least, that Mrs. Nobles will get the same warm and fuzzy that I get when I’m around Susan.
June 3rd, 2008
Mrs. Nobles and I had a little date after my LAST!!!!! Exam, and proceeded to go to Mary Wash for a meeting with Susan. This was the first time that they met, and it really couldn’t have gone any better. I was glad to have brought Mrs. Nobles with me because she was able to answer some of the questions that Susan had about Senior Exhibit. She seems SO excited about this project- she even told me that she was getting Safir (?), the university’s AV guy to tape my steps from the summer until Prom and he’s going to mix it all up and make it awesome. I really couldn’t ask for a better project…things are really looking great for the summer and everything beyond that. I don’t really have one particular job because Susan understands and wants me to do a little bit of everything so that I can get the big picture at the end.
June 14th, 2008
Tonight was my first night “working”. I say that in quotes because I was really more observant than anything, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t help or that I’m not exhausted. It was a wedding, and I went to the preliminary meeting yesterday, Friday, with the bride and groom and their parents to go over the last minute details. Today was interesting because I was on time, which was at 4, but I just stood there for about an hour. Thais was off doing all sorts of things so I had to just wait until she came back into the Ball room where I was waiting for her. It felt really awkward because there were a few other servers there who are young; I wasn’t really sure what to say to them…I wanted to ask if they needed any help but I also know that I don’t know anything about how to set things up the right way. In the end I just stood there for about an hour, but I met some cool people. I met Kirk, who I really like, he’s about 40 and knows everything about everything, or so it seems. I know Lisa who is older…not sure how old, and has pink and black hair…she seems cool. It turns out that Susan is like God to the catering/planning disciples…what she says goes. Thank God she likes me. She asked me what I had learned after a few hours of being there (by the way, today, my first day, it rained like a mother trucker, and we had to move the whole wedding indoors from the tent that was originally set up outside), and I said that it seems to me that catering is all about spurts. There’s down time, but there’s also a lot of sprinting in order to get something done right away. She says that its all about making decisions on the fly that make everyone happy. She said it’s quite a skill…well I guess so! I think that I can do that though…I like that this business seems to keep you on your toes, I also like being tired at the end of the day because it makes me feel like I’ve done something. I think that this job will be really great for me, I can’t wait for next time I go in. I go to the beach this Friday, so I won’t be working then…but next time will be great. Susan also wants to meet with me to talk about tonight, that will be good I think, she wants to go over the events and just talk about them. She’s so nice, and so is Thais. I truly am so lucky to be so ahead on my project right now.
June 26th, 2008
I am actually on vacation right now- look how dedicated I am! Just kidding, so the deal is that I haven’t been to UMW or really even talked to anyone since the wedding. Thais asked me to email her about when I would be back from my trip so she could figure me into the schedule. I waited too long, I should have done it that day, but I didn’t do it until the night before I left. I had to do it from my cousin’s house too, so I was not %100 confident that it got to her. I’m a little nervous about that, but I guess I learned not to procrastinate :-/. As if I needed to re-learn that lesson
July 10th, 2008
All progress seems to have come to a thundering halt. I think that sometime in the near future I will be getting together with Snobles so that we can have our meeting soon. I don’t what else I can do- I emailed Thais again, but have yet to hear back from anyone…
July 24th, 2008
After my meeting with Snobles we had decided that the best course of action for me would be for me to call up Susan Worrell see what was up. I ended up leaving her a voicemail, which was a little discouraging, but at the same time I was worried about getting her at a bad time since I know that her mom has breast cancer. It was discouraging until the next day when I got an email from non other than Thais! It’s been so long, I feel like I should say her name again- THAIS! Hooray! So I will be going in for four hours both on Friday and Saturday. YAY me I’ll be very happy to get the ball rolling once again and to make some progress!
August 7th, 2008
Okay, I can’t even begin to describe how pissed I am. Or maybe pissed isn’t the right word- disappointed and repulsed perhaps better describe how I feel. I realized that after that email that I got a few weeks ago that the TIME that I was supposed to go in was not included…that’s a problem. I emailed Thais asking about time on that Wednesday, giving her that day, the next day, and even early on Friday to tell me when I needed to go in. My excitement quickly dwindled the more I realized that I was never going to get that email. I have yet to hear anything about it even now, two weeks later. Even if she never got my email asking about a time, wouldn’t/shouldn’t she have sent me one asking where the hell I was? None of it is adding up, and it’s really making me mad. I can’t believe all of the things that I was promised, I thought that it was too good to be true, and now I guess it really was too good to be true. I need to have another meeting with Mrs. Nobles soon to talk about what on earth I am supposed to do now.
August 21st, 2008
So on the 12th, I received an email from Thais of all people, with a subject “Work Schedule”. You would think that I would be excited to see such a thing, but instead I yelled, “You’ve GOT to be kidding”. I asked my lovely counselor to have an emergency meeting about what I should do. I wasn’t sure whether I should go in because A) it’s August, not June, therefore I have school rapidly approaching and I can’t be expected to go in on a whim in another week or so, B) wouldn’t it waste everyone’s time? Mine because I wouldn’t know how to do anything/what to do and theirs because of that same reason? If it were June and I needed to learn how to do things, it would be a different story because I could consistently go to work to learn and improve? So we met and decided that I shouldn’t go, which was better since I had plans anyway, and that I needed a new plan. I’ve now introduced Alice Carroll into the mix, and I have every confidence that she will follow through with anything that she promises to help me with. I didn’t want to involve her initially because I knew that it would be too much like working with a member of my family, but at this point, what am I supposed to do? It’s getting late in the game, and all I can think is- thank God I didn’t wait until the last minute to get going on this saga. I’m actually kind of glad that UMW didn’t work out because from what they were suggesting, I wasn’t going to do very much actual cooking, which is something that I really want to do. So now I’ve spoken to Alice about my project and we have ideas- lots of them. I want to focus on the smaller, more intimate functions around school like the faculty holiday party and the normally catered board meetings, and doing those myself. Maybe I could do a board meeting relatively soon- September/October and have the fill out a card evaluating myself and then do another board meeting in say…March and fill out more cards to see my improvement. Also, Alice is trying to get me some time with the chefs downtown, so that could be really cool if it works out. I’m so thankful to be surrounded by people who are so willing to help me, especially now, when things are getting a little hectic. Mrs. Nobles and I are also looking to have a meeting with Mr. Dawson and the new Board of Directors to talk about some potential catering at the auction, but I have really think about that because it might just lead me down another UMW path…
August 25, 2008
It’s not time for another journal yet, but I have things to say! It’s the day before school and Alice decided that she wanted to have a luncheon for all of the Lower School teachers. She asked me last night if I wanted to help and maybe get some picture to throw in my project, and I said sure. Little did I know that she planned on my doing everything. Apparently Mrs. Lubore is the one that puts everything together for an event- while a caterer actually does the cooking, she’s the one to make it aesthetically pleasing. That’s what I did today. I just jumped head first into making everything look as nice as I could in as little time as possible. From when I arrived, I had about 30 minutes to set up the tables (tablecloths, plates, napkins, silverware), assemble the salad, garnish the salmon and arrange the brownies. I was a little shocked at first when Alice showed me the kitchen and basically said, “have at it,” but it was so great. I really feel like I was able to think on my toes and was able to put out a nice display. The event was for about 40 teachers, but it was very casual. It was buffet style and there were paper plates, but still, experience is experience! All the teachers told me how great I did, but that’s a little ridiculous- I really don’t feel like I did all that much, but Alice assures me that it’s just what Mrs. Lubore does and that it’s what the higher end caterers look for “because anyone can cook the food, it’s how it all looks”. I really got a rush out of today- seeing my ideas and how people responded to them was really great. I definitely want to continue doing these type events in the near future- but on a smaller scale so I can cook too!
September 6, 2008
Since my last entry, I’ve had a chance to talk to Mrs. Lubore about my exhibit, and she seems ready and willing to help me out in any way that she can. She was so nice- she and I have planned for me to provide breakfast to the Board on the 16th so that I can use that time to practice my game plan for the gift baskets/the accreditation teams that’s coming in April. I started to plan out my menu today and I’m having a little bit of a hard time deciding how much I want to do. A huge part of catering is knowing how many people to cook for, so I guess I’ll just have to wing it and see how it goes! Also- when I was talking to Mrs. Lubore, she told me a lot of cool stuff that the school is getting ready to do. Apparently we’re making a contract with Caroline Street Catering so that they will be providing us with hot/cold lunches. Hello! A caterer right at school! That’s so great for me since that other thing (UMW) didn’t exactly pan out. Mrs. Lubore also said that she would get me the number for the “main guy” so that I could talk to him about some potential things that I could with him. Mrs. Nobles and I also had a meeting with Mrs. Catullo in which I proposed my idea for the gift baskets. She LOVED the idea since the administration had been thinking about ways to keep in touch with the alums anyway. Things are really moving swiftly now; I have to finish my menu and next weekend I’ll be taking the ACT and cooking up a storm for the Tuesday breakfast.
September 18, 2008
On Tuesday I catered the breakfast to my first Board meeting. That was quite stressful since I couldn’t get as much cooking as I had hoped done on the weekend and because it was shaping up to be a horrendous week anyway. I woke up at 4:30 Tuesday Morning in order to take the Orange Rolls out of the freezer to give them ample “rising time”, which ironically diminished mine. My menu consisted of Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti, mini Blueberry and Banana Nut muffins, Orange rolls, parfaits with homemade granola, coffee and water. I handed little surveys asking the members to tell me their top three foods and suggestions for the next time. Parfaits I think were the winner, and I was shocked when I saw “brownies” as one of the suggestions for next time…it’s 8:00 a.m.! you want some cocktails while we’re at it? Maybe some lobster? For the most part I think that it went well, and the thanks I got was numerous. For the most part, I think that they were very thankful to not have to rely on the bakery a la Food Lion for once. I felt good being able to put all my stuff out on the table. I bought the napkins, plates, and silverware too, so that I could get some ambiance. Note: next time, have the flowers I had hoped to have. Mrs. Nobles surprised me when she showed up to help me, and it was great to have her there.
Today I had to give a 5 minute presentation of my exhibit thus far and it went really well. I didn’t prepare at all, but I was confident that I would be able to talk well about my senior exhibit. Mr. Eckerson said I did the best, so I guess that I was right about that.
This is my first journal entry of many. Tonight I went to the Senior Exhibit meeting and I think that it went well. I was shocked to see that I actually had to have an entry THIS very month, but all is well. Mrs. Aldrow told us that the worst thing that we could do is procrastinate, which was like telling an AA member not to drink. I have been trying with every fiber in my being to do just that, so I thought I’d get on the “good foot” so to speak and just get this out of the way now. Tomorrow I will ask Mrs. Nobles to be my mentor because she’s just such a hot commodity- I don’t want someone else to do it before me! Initially I thought that I would ask Mrs. Carroll to be my mentor because of her extensive knowledge of food and because I love her and she loves me, however, I think that we are too good of friends. We were told that it was best to pick someone that you get along with, but also someone that will inspire you to get things done. I don’t know what it is, but disappointed Mrs. Nobles has always kept me working my hardest, at least while I was in her class. I have a lot of respect for her, but I know that we also get along well (at least I think so), so I know that I could accomplish a lot with her. Also, she is the Cooking Club…kid? That seemed like it should have had alliteration… I don’t know, whatever you want to define her as; she cooks. At this point I need to figure out if I want to do something with cooking to get me some experience for my apps, or if I want to do something that I may not otherwise get a chance to try. So…hopefully I can talk to my new mentor about that tomorrow…
January 16, 2008
I just wanted to say that Mrs. Nobles accepted my request of mentoring. That’s a really good sign
February 7, 2008
Not much to say except that I’ve had my first legit meeting with Mrs. Nobles. We discussed what it exactly it is that I will be doing for my exhibit…or at least roughly outlined it. We’re thinking that I’ll take some cooking classes (possibly at Wittinghams) and do some catering of some sort. She asked me to call up Wittinghams on behalf of cooking club which was great because if I can incorporate cooking club into my project, I’ll be able to give back to the school…hopefully in a lasting way. I’ll call within the next few days, after I get back from MD this weekend. I hope that I can set up my own cooking classes as well, or just establish myself there, make some friends- it would be cool to get a job there over the summer maybe?
February 14th, 2008
Happy Valentines Day! For Cooking Club Mrs. Nobles asked me to go check out Wittinghams’ downtown to see if they would offer our class cooking classes. I went down there for the first time and I loved it! I didn’t have a chance to look around, but I will definitely be going back there. Anyway, the classes are offered, but they’re like 50 bucks a person, so that’s a little steep for cooking classes, but I will keep that in mind if decide I want to take some classes for myself for future S.E stuff.
February 27, 2008
So today is the Wednesday of Winter Break and I am SO glad. Not only because it’s break, duly needed, but also because I’m doing a little bit of traveling as well today I went to and am at Virginia Tech and I LOVE it. I also visited Radford…not lovin it. It was really crappy, the library was not much to behold, but that’s okay because it’s nice to know that there’s a school out there that I could already get into. Tomorrow I’m headed out to see the broster at JMU and I know that will be great too. Tech is just so great, I went to the info session before the tour and it was so awesome. The guy was talking about admissions and he said that Tech combines your best ACT and SAT scores on the individual parts, which is amazing, I don’t know any other school that does that. It’s a stretch for sure, but it’s really awesome to have a goal in mind now. They have an amazing dietetics program, I know because I spoke with one of the professors, and was really impressed with what she had to say. Like I said, I know that it’ll be a stress, but Tech in the back of my mind will push me forward when I have senior exhibit work to do. Also maybe I can apply some of the things that Dr. Clark said so I can get some background going. Maybe I can include some things about how food affects you? Don’t know, but something to think about!
March 8th, 2008
I took the SAT for the first time the other day. To be honest I feel really indifferent about it at this point. I mean, realize that it’s a really big deal, but I mean- I really only found out about a month ago that I was going to take it in March, and I’d just come back from a hectic college road trip with mom and dad. Keeping that in mind, I don’t have the highest expectations…I don’t really have any expectations though because I thought that I was going to do really well on my PSAT, but I really didn’t do all that well. I just hope that I broke 1000…I need to have another meeting with my dear mentor so we can make some exhibit plans.
March 24, 2008
Okay I had a meeting with Mrs. Nobles last week and I am so stoked! I’ve really been searching for the “cool factor” in my exhibit and I think that we found it. We’ve talked about catering before, but we never really figured out what I could do with that for the application. I could have catered some faculty luncheon or something, but that’s a little lack luster for my taste. So I thought, hey what if I catered PROM next year??? I know that it’s daunting, but it’s exciting too. I mean, as long as the food doesn’t suck or kill anyone, this could be really cool. Mrs. Nobles, knower of all things with substance, happened to know of the lady who’s been catering for us in past years and knows that that same lady gives classes at Whittinghams. The plan thusly is for me to get in touch with Bistro Betham, who offers classes as well, establish myself somewhat by taking classes asap, and then go to Whittinghams with some credentials. I have to get in touch SOON with Bistro, but I’m thinking that I could take some classes over Spring Break, which is in about three weeks anyway. Besides, that way I could take several classes in a row instead of sporadically throughout my crazy life. YAY, this is good.
April 3, 2008
So I drove to Bistro and have found out some semi-bad news. Their idea of a cooking class involves a middle aged dinner party as far as I can tell, so that’s a no go. At this point I think the best thing for me to do is to just go to Whittinghams and take classes there. I’ll be home during Spring Break, so that’s a superb time to take them. I think maybe four or five would be good, but it might get a little steep at $45 a pop. I think that I also need to start looking at some potential summer jobs. I don’t know what it’s going to be yet- maybe I can work at Whittinghams? Or maybe I’ll want to be catering? Catering would be better probably thought because then I would be getting tons of experience that could help me prepare for the grand finale i.e. prom. Dad had a good idea- I should check out the happenings at prom THIS year so I can decide on whether I’m going to be able to undertake this task. Good stuff- peace out.
April 17, 2008
Its Spring Break and I called Whittingham’s to schedule some cooking classes so I could get some done before I ask that lady for her help. I got one for Saturday and even though I asked twice, I was not sure what the class entailed. However, today they called to tell me that the class was cancelled. I was disappointed, but I just rescheduled for next Thursday. It’s an all salmon class. I’m a little hesitant because he said that it would last about 2 ½ hours and it starts at 6. It’s going to be a long day, and then that weekend it’s prom, but it’ll be so fun.
April 25, 2008
Last night I went to my first cooking class!!! I can now cure, poach and create salmon cakes! Hooray! It was so much fun, the chef was David…something. I was definitely was the youngest one there by approximately 35 years, but it was so great. For 40 bucks I got to learn those things and then we ate all the awesome things that we made. Oh yeah, we also made a salmon salad and it was so delish. I happen to notice that the chef jacket he was wearing said Sedexho on it, which I quickly recognized to be the same company that works at Seacobeck….teheee so I stayed after to talk to him. Long story short, he suggested that I talk to Susan Worrell, which is JUST the lady that Mrs. Nobles, Mrs. Hunley, and I were talking about. So that was REALLY cool. I told him that I was planning on interning with her, but he suggested that I just apply for the job. He also told me that she is super nice and that she’s a great lady, so I cannot wait to speak with her. My next cooking class is in a few weeks and I believe that she’s the one teaching it. It’s all about noodles, so that will be sweet. I’ll just be my usual self and hope for the best.
May 1, 2008
I cannot believe that it’s already May! I know that I am writing this journal having only one week pass by, but I’m on a schedule and if I don’t do it now, I feel like I’ll screw up my routine I’ve finally gotten down. Besides that, I have a lot to say. I went to another cooking class on Tuesday where it was centered around Asian noodle dishes. Susan was not the one teaching the class, but I had I great “thyme” anyway. I feel like I’m making all these cool new friends… the reason it’s cool is because they’re all from other generations. How many teenagers get that opportunity? I learned a lot and got tons of notes again, along with my recipes. I decided to ask Meredith Beckett, the teacher, if she knew Susan and, as luck would have it, she does! She too couldn’t have given her anymore of a glowing review. “Oh you’ll love her! She’s a great chef and she’s so nice”. I must have made a good impression on her because she told me to give her an email and she promised to email Susan on my behalf that night. I was so thankful for her help, but she gave me a warning. She said that because it’s the end of the year it was likely that Susan wouldn’t get back to me for awhile…which was totally fine! I talked to Mrs. Nobles about it yesterday and we decided that it would be best for me to just call her in two weeks if there was no response. BUT- Susan emailed me back the same day that Meredith did!! I’m so excited, I really feel like things are getting underway for me. I’m so glad to be getting these small details out of the way now, so I don’t have to stress out about them later along with all my exams.
Just so I can remember:
Hi Jamie,
I enjoyed meeting you at the class last night and hope to see you again at another one. You did a great job!
I just wanted to let you know that I e-mailed Susan this morning and sent your name and address to her and mentioned your senior project. She's probably really busy right now with graduation in 2 weeks but I'm sure she'll get back to you as soon as she can. She's a really neat person and a super cooking instructor. If, for some reason, you don't hear back from her in a few weeks, let me know and I'll get in touch with her again.
Good luck with your end-of-the-year projects, exams being one of them, I'm sure!! Tell Mrs. Calloway I said Hi!
Take care.
Meredith
And my first Susan Email is:
Hi Jamie,
I received an email for Meredith Beckett this morning about your senior project for school next year. I would be delight to speak with you, meet with you, or spend time with you concerning your project. Below is listed my contact information and in addition here is my cell number 540-903-3793. Let me know how I can be of assistance to you.
SUSAN
I can’t believe that she included her cell phone number, I have a really good feeling about meeting her. I’ll be calling her within the next few days- after I meet with Mrs. Nobles again about what we should talk about when we set up our first meeting.
May 15th, 2008
Tomorrow I have my meeting with Susan, I’ll write more about what happens later. I’m actually not nervous at all, I have a good feeling about it…
May 16th, 2008
I can’t believe how well everything went! I went to the Jepson Alumni Center where I met with Susan. While there she told me that she actually couldn’t help me too much because she takes care of the sales aspect of the catering, she also told me that she was very interested in doing all that she could. She gave me two brochure-esque pamphlet/books that she gives out to her clients/will be giving them out to her clients (they’re new); one for weddings and one for business ventures. She said that it would be really cool to include all aspects of catering in my project, even if it didn’t necessarily have anything to do with Prom itself. She also called in a woman who could help me more, whose name is Thais? She was super nice as well, she’s actually the director of catering (or something really similar) for most if not all of the events that UMW puts on. Susan reiterated to Thais all the things that I talked to her about for the previous 45 minutes, and Thais seemed into the idea of me helping her out this summer. She said that she usually hires people from JM, so I don’t see it being a problem for her to hire me as well, and since Susan liked me so much, I’m feeling nice and confident about a job We’re setting up another meeting after exams so that the three of us can lay out my project timeline- they were so extremely helpful. Thais is going to bring an application for me to fill out. I have to email them about having Mrs. Nobles coming with me- I know that if she comes with me she’ll help all three of us with knowing what’s too much to take on and what isn’t. I’m planning that to be on June 2cd at this point. I’m so excited right now about all my plans, and it seems that everyone else is too, which is refreshing.
May 30th, 2008
Not too much going on now…I’ve had a meeting with the mentor, and she’s pleased with how things seem to be shaping up. We’re planning on meeting with Susan together sometime in the near future to hammer out the details of my actual job and things of that nature. I’m looking forward to my mentor and my …Susan? To meet, I think that they will really like each other, or at the very least, that Mrs. Nobles will get the same warm and fuzzy that I get when I’m around Susan.
June 3rd, 2008
Mrs. Nobles and I had a little date after my LAST!!!!! Exam, and proceeded to go to Mary Wash for a meeting with Susan. This was the first time that they met, and it really couldn’t have gone any better. I was glad to have brought Mrs. Nobles with me because she was able to answer some of the questions that Susan had about Senior Exhibit. She seems SO excited about this project- she even told me that she was getting Safir (?), the university’s AV guy to tape my steps from the summer until Prom and he’s going to mix it all up and make it awesome. I really couldn’t ask for a better project…things are really looking great for the summer and everything beyond that. I don’t really have one particular job because Susan understands and wants me to do a little bit of everything so that I can get the big picture at the end.
June 14th, 2008
Tonight was my first night “working”. I say that in quotes because I was really more observant than anything, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t help or that I’m not exhausted. It was a wedding, and I went to the preliminary meeting yesterday, Friday, with the bride and groom and their parents to go over the last minute details. Today was interesting because I was on time, which was at 4, but I just stood there for about an hour. Thais was off doing all sorts of things so I had to just wait until she came back into the Ball room where I was waiting for her. It felt really awkward because there were a few other servers there who are young; I wasn’t really sure what to say to them…I wanted to ask if they needed any help but I also know that I don’t know anything about how to set things up the right way. In the end I just stood there for about an hour, but I met some cool people. I met Kirk, who I really like, he’s about 40 and knows everything about everything, or so it seems. I know Lisa who is older…not sure how old, and has pink and black hair…she seems cool. It turns out that Susan is like God to the catering/planning disciples…what she says goes. Thank God she likes me. She asked me what I had learned after a few hours of being there (by the way, today, my first day, it rained like a mother trucker, and we had to move the whole wedding indoors from the tent that was originally set up outside), and I said that it seems to me that catering is all about spurts. There’s down time, but there’s also a lot of sprinting in order to get something done right away. She says that its all about making decisions on the fly that make everyone happy. She said it’s quite a skill…well I guess so! I think that I can do that though…I like that this business seems to keep you on your toes, I also like being tired at the end of the day because it makes me feel like I’ve done something. I think that this job will be really great for me, I can’t wait for next time I go in. I go to the beach this Friday, so I won’t be working then…but next time will be great. Susan also wants to meet with me to talk about tonight, that will be good I think, she wants to go over the events and just talk about them. She’s so nice, and so is Thais. I truly am so lucky to be so ahead on my project right now.
June 26th, 2008
I am actually on vacation right now- look how dedicated I am! Just kidding, so the deal is that I haven’t been to UMW or really even talked to anyone since the wedding. Thais asked me to email her about when I would be back from my trip so she could figure me into the schedule. I waited too long, I should have done it that day, but I didn’t do it until the night before I left. I had to do it from my cousin’s house too, so I was not %100 confident that it got to her. I’m a little nervous about that, but I guess I learned not to procrastinate :-/. As if I needed to re-learn that lesson
July 10th, 2008
All progress seems to have come to a thundering halt. I think that sometime in the near future I will be getting together with Snobles so that we can have our meeting soon. I don’t what else I can do- I emailed Thais again, but have yet to hear back from anyone…
July 24th, 2008
After my meeting with Snobles we had decided that the best course of action for me would be for me to call up Susan Worrell see what was up. I ended up leaving her a voicemail, which was a little discouraging, but at the same time I was worried about getting her at a bad time since I know that her mom has breast cancer. It was discouraging until the next day when I got an email from non other than Thais! It’s been so long, I feel like I should say her name again- THAIS! Hooray! So I will be going in for four hours both on Friday and Saturday. YAY me I’ll be very happy to get the ball rolling once again and to make some progress!
August 7th, 2008
Okay, I can’t even begin to describe how pissed I am. Or maybe pissed isn’t the right word- disappointed and repulsed perhaps better describe how I feel. I realized that after that email that I got a few weeks ago that the TIME that I was supposed to go in was not included…that’s a problem. I emailed Thais asking about time on that Wednesday, giving her that day, the next day, and even early on Friday to tell me when I needed to go in. My excitement quickly dwindled the more I realized that I was never going to get that email. I have yet to hear anything about it even now, two weeks later. Even if she never got my email asking about a time, wouldn’t/shouldn’t she have sent me one asking where the hell I was? None of it is adding up, and it’s really making me mad. I can’t believe all of the things that I was promised, I thought that it was too good to be true, and now I guess it really was too good to be true. I need to have another meeting with Mrs. Nobles soon to talk about what on earth I am supposed to do now.
August 21st, 2008
So on the 12th, I received an email from Thais of all people, with a subject “Work Schedule”. You would think that I would be excited to see such a thing, but instead I yelled, “You’ve GOT to be kidding”. I asked my lovely counselor to have an emergency meeting about what I should do. I wasn’t sure whether I should go in because A) it’s August, not June, therefore I have school rapidly approaching and I can’t be expected to go in on a whim in another week or so, B) wouldn’t it waste everyone’s time? Mine because I wouldn’t know how to do anything/what to do and theirs because of that same reason? If it were June and I needed to learn how to do things, it would be a different story because I could consistently go to work to learn and improve? So we met and decided that I shouldn’t go, which was better since I had plans anyway, and that I needed a new plan. I’ve now introduced Alice Carroll into the mix, and I have every confidence that she will follow through with anything that she promises to help me with. I didn’t want to involve her initially because I knew that it would be too much like working with a member of my family, but at this point, what am I supposed to do? It’s getting late in the game, and all I can think is- thank God I didn’t wait until the last minute to get going on this saga. I’m actually kind of glad that UMW didn’t work out because from what they were suggesting, I wasn’t going to do very much actual cooking, which is something that I really want to do. So now I’ve spoken to Alice about my project and we have ideas- lots of them. I want to focus on the smaller, more intimate functions around school like the faculty holiday party and the normally catered board meetings, and doing those myself. Maybe I could do a board meeting relatively soon- September/October and have the fill out a card evaluating myself and then do another board meeting in say…March and fill out more cards to see my improvement. Also, Alice is trying to get me some time with the chefs downtown, so that could be really cool if it works out. I’m so thankful to be surrounded by people who are so willing to help me, especially now, when things are getting a little hectic. Mrs. Nobles and I are also looking to have a meeting with Mr. Dawson and the new Board of Directors to talk about some potential catering at the auction, but I have really think about that because it might just lead me down another UMW path…
August 25, 2008
It’s not time for another journal yet, but I have things to say! It’s the day before school and Alice decided that she wanted to have a luncheon for all of the Lower School teachers. She asked me last night if I wanted to help and maybe get some picture to throw in my project, and I said sure. Little did I know that she planned on my doing everything. Apparently Mrs. Lubore is the one that puts everything together for an event- while a caterer actually does the cooking, she’s the one to make it aesthetically pleasing. That’s what I did today. I just jumped head first into making everything look as nice as I could in as little time as possible. From when I arrived, I had about 30 minutes to set up the tables (tablecloths, plates, napkins, silverware), assemble the salad, garnish the salmon and arrange the brownies. I was a little shocked at first when Alice showed me the kitchen and basically said, “have at it,” but it was so great. I really feel like I was able to think on my toes and was able to put out a nice display. The event was for about 40 teachers, but it was very casual. It was buffet style and there were paper plates, but still, experience is experience! All the teachers told me how great I did, but that’s a little ridiculous- I really don’t feel like I did all that much, but Alice assures me that it’s just what Mrs. Lubore does and that it’s what the higher end caterers look for “because anyone can cook the food, it’s how it all looks”. I really got a rush out of today- seeing my ideas and how people responded to them was really great. I definitely want to continue doing these type events in the near future- but on a smaller scale so I can cook too!
September 6, 2008
Since my last entry, I’ve had a chance to talk to Mrs. Lubore about my exhibit, and she seems ready and willing to help me out in any way that she can. She was so nice- she and I have planned for me to provide breakfast to the Board on the 16th so that I can use that time to practice my game plan for the gift baskets/the accreditation teams that’s coming in April. I started to plan out my menu today and I’m having a little bit of a hard time deciding how much I want to do. A huge part of catering is knowing how many people to cook for, so I guess I’ll just have to wing it and see how it goes! Also- when I was talking to Mrs. Lubore, she told me a lot of cool stuff that the school is getting ready to do. Apparently we’re making a contract with Caroline Street Catering so that they will be providing us with hot/cold lunches. Hello! A caterer right at school! That’s so great for me since that other thing (UMW) didn’t exactly pan out. Mrs. Lubore also said that she would get me the number for the “main guy” so that I could talk to him about some potential things that I could with him. Mrs. Nobles and I also had a meeting with Mrs. Catullo in which I proposed my idea for the gift baskets. She LOVED the idea since the administration had been thinking about ways to keep in touch with the alums anyway. Things are really moving swiftly now; I have to finish my menu and next weekend I’ll be taking the ACT and cooking up a storm for the Tuesday breakfast.
September 18, 2008
On Tuesday I catered the breakfast to my first Board meeting. That was quite stressful since I couldn’t get as much cooking as I had hoped done on the weekend and because it was shaping up to be a horrendous week anyway. I woke up at 4:30 Tuesday Morning in order to take the Orange Rolls out of the freezer to give them ample “rising time”, which ironically diminished mine. My menu consisted of Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti, mini Blueberry and Banana Nut muffins, Orange rolls, parfaits with homemade granola, coffee and water. I handed little surveys asking the members to tell me their top three foods and suggestions for the next time. Parfaits I think were the winner, and I was shocked when I saw “brownies” as one of the suggestions for next time…it’s 8:00 a.m.! you want some cocktails while we’re at it? Maybe some lobster? For the most part I think that it went well, and the thanks I got was numerous. For the most part, I think that they were very thankful to not have to rely on the bakery a la Food Lion for once. I felt good being able to put all my stuff out on the table. I bought the napkins, plates, and silverware too, so that I could get some ambiance. Note: next time, have the flowers I had hoped to have. Mrs. Nobles surprised me when she showed up to help me, and it was great to have her there.
Today I had to give a 5 minute presentation of my exhibit thus far and it went really well. I didn’t prepare at all, but I was confident that I would be able to talk well about my senior exhibit. Mr. Eckerson said I did the best, so I guess that I was right about that.
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