Don't call it work!

Many people graduating high school don't know what they want to do when they graduate. So they typically choose a career that their parents want them to do or something that society deems as acceptable. However, they find that halfway through college they aren't happy. They either suffer through and stay unhappy in their career or they switch majors and spend a few more years in school only to realize they still aren't happy.

When I started at Sullivan, I honestly wasn't sure what I was doing here. I started at Sullivan as a Baking and Pastry student. I have no clue where I came up with the idea to go to school for baking. My second quarter of Baking 1 made me realized how unhappy I had become since first quarter in basic skills. I began to doubt why I was even at Sullivan. I had to sit down and think hard about the past 6 months. I realized how much I had enjoyed my first quarter. After talking to my friends,family, and reevaluating myself I realized that my heart was truly with the culinary program. I switched my major, and am now finishing up my 3rd quarter in Garde Manger.  I have learned so many skills and every time I am in lab I have a smile on and I crave cooking when I'm not in lab. I know that I made the right decision and will be happy for years to come.

Remember: you if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.

Lori (:

Confidence



Royal Icing Tiaras I've been practicing on! :)

The cake I made in Baking II! (:

A few weeks ago, I started working on my piece for the competition next month! When I first started, I thought I would fail miserably and there was no way I would ever be able to pull off something so incredible. Was I getting myself in over my head? The first day when we got into lab, I was really dreading it. I questioned myself and my abilities. Am I good enough to do this? This has been a big learning experience for me. It's all about confidence. I finally saw that everyone had confidence in me but I had no confidence in myself. Since then, I've been working on piping royal icing tiaras and have learned that practice makes perfect. You can't walk into something and think your going to be good at it the very first time. Especially, if you have never worked with it before. The first day actually wasn't that bad! I didn't do nearly as bad as I thought I would do and have been getting better with it ever since! Of course you dont wanna go in thinking your the best, thats not what confidence is. Confidence is simply believing in yourself. If you put your mind to it, you can do anything. It's not necessarily going to be easy and it'll take time, but this is where dedication comes in. It isn't really about the skill, of course you do have to have a little bit of skill, but its about the amount of time you're willing to put into it. Skill comes from practice. While everyone else is in bed at 5am, the team is usually at the bakery. Sometimes I really don't want to go in and wanna just take a break. But I know my goal is mastering this showpiece. & that won't happen laying in bed sleeping. Instead of dreading practice, now, I actually look forward to waking up at 4am to go work on my piece. College is teaching me a lot about myself. Sure, I still have my doubts, but this experience has taught me a lot about myself and I'm starting to gain confidence in myself. It's amazing that other people can believe in you so much. I love the team so much & were all starting be like a family.

-Allysa. :)

Persevere

By: Halie Raymer

Persevere: To continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no indication of success. On January 20, 2012, I attended my first "show piece," competition in Pontiac, Michigan. I was oblivious to how dramatically this event would transform my life. Over the previous two weeks, I had been enduring my first real taste of physical labor. Every. Single. Morning... I would wake up before the birds, at approximately 4:00am, to be ready and mentally focused to sculpt puff pastry fat at 5:00am. 2 hours before my first lab even started. To top it off, I would stay after school till around 3pm. near everyday. All was not lost. My piece blossomed into a magical story. It was unbelievable, almost unfathomable, to see the difference between my premature blueprint and my final product. So much had changed from the image I had once pictured in my mind. The long hard work, the exhausting hours, the mental and physical integrity molded into this piece, eventually gave me the most satisfying emotion I have ever endured in my life.  I was given the privilege of meeting the judges, three certified master chefs. These words still choke up my throat.  To face these chefs, individuals that know more about the baking and pastry world in a single cell than I do in my entire body, was unbelievable in itself. But to hear that my piece was substantial enough to be held to an olympic standard? The emotion was so, astonishing. Overwhelming. I cried tears of joy for the first time in my life. That is a feeling I wouldn't trade for the entire world <3

Opportunities!

Hello again everyone! It’s almost midterms already and I can't believe it! I've learned more than I thought was possible! I wanted to drop in and tell you guys about an opportunity I have coming up exactly a week from today! Next weekend I get to go to my little home town and do a presentation and demo for the culinary classes at the high school I once attended! I'm so excited to be able to have this experience! To get the chance to walk into my high school wearing my uniform and showing what I’ve learned, that’s an amazing feeling that I can’t wait to have! I will definitely be posting pictures and blogging about it to let you know how it went! Wish me luck! :)   -Gabrielle

Hard Work & Dedication



Student Ambassador's :)

Pastry Competition Team

     In the beginning, I really questioned myself. Was I making the right decision? I wasn't sure I had until I arrived here at Sullivan University. First quarter was such a great experience. I was finally out in the real world and on my own. Discovering what life was really like as an adult.  I've had so many wonderful opportunities. Getting to be a Sullivan NCHS student, student ambassador, the chance to be a Gardiner Point tutor, and now being a part of the competition team. I've learned soo much since I have been here. Hard work and dedication really does pay off. When you finally decide to start something, the journey is pretty rough. After finally accomplishing your goals and looking back, it was totally worth it. All those times of waking up early when you just wanted to sleep in doesn't seem so bad anymore. It really shows you a lot about yourself. Giving up when the going got rough was always an easy escape. Having the opportunities I have here has really taught me that dreams aren't always impossible. Dream big and never give up on what you really want in life. Cause with a little bit of hard work and dedication, you'll be amazed at where life will take you. :)
-Allysa Taranto

Showing Off!

Hey everyone,

We've just started our Winter quarter here at Sullivan University and I must say that two week break for the holidays was just what I needed to refocus myself.  Homesickness hits the best of us, especially around the holidays. I was so happy to go home and show off my skills to my family. I have learned so much in my first two quarters here in my culinary arts degree and I used my talents to whip up a fantastic meal for my family, as shown below. I made a sauteed chicken breast, a little angel hair pasta with sauteed vegetables in a mustard cream sauce. SOOOOO GOOD!! It definitely impressed my family and reassured them that my college degree is money WELL spent.

I am now entering my third quarter and have started in Garde Manger. It is very fun and different from anything I have learned so far. I plan to study hard and try my best to be on the deans list again this quarter. Current students I challenge you to be on the list with me, Future students the deans list is something you should most definitely strive for as it is a great accomplishment.

I'm off to do some homework now, wish me luck. Stay tuned for more pictures of my lovely food, and for more exciting stories.

Ta-ta for now,
- Carly :)

New year. New quarter. New start.

Hey everyone (it's LORI)! I'm excited to say that I started this year out right! I got to spend the holidays at home with my family, and then spend the New Years with some of my good friends that I met here at school. With the new year comes a new quarter. This will be my third quarter here at Sullivan and I couldn't be more excited! I started Garde Manger, and I'm loving it so far. Other things that comes with the new quarter is new residents and new programs. I successfully completed my lava lamp door decs and thought of some pretty neat things I could do with my residents (with the help of pintrest of course). Overall the start of the new year is the chance for me (and YOU) to start fresh. You can leave any negativity of last year behind, and begin this year out right!