Selflessness! The thing many heroes share. The ability to sacrifice or rather put other needs before their very own; it plays a role from childhood (being that we've witnessed it in story books and movies) to adulthood( being something as simple as allowing someone to merge on a busy highway). Selflessness is something all members in society hold, but those who have served our nation are the few that seem to have the most empathic; having to protect and the willingness to lay down their own lives for us. For me one who comes to mind as a selfless individual is my father. From my experience at college so far, I’ve bare witnessed to many hard workers and goal getters, and since I come from a family of hard workers, and those of which being my father, I’ve learned that it’s best to take whatever opportunity the world offers; My father…he wasn’t able to go to college since he wasn’t financially stable enough to attend so he instead he left his little town in Tunica, Mississippi, and served in the navy (from 1980-1984) and got a job right after in housing more specifically working as a boiler in New York. He always wanted me and my sibling to go to school, and his reasoning being that more opportunities will be available; So with me being one of the few in his family to be attending college, let’s just say that expectations have been through the roof! He’s always played a part in my life, heck he’s even a contributor in why I even chose what major I’m majoring in. That major being culinary currently ( hopefully later on I major in journalism) every since I was little my father would tell me all about the foods he tried while serving, and with him being from Mississippi, he would always make from the heart southern food, and as I began to grow up, that passion of cooking and feeding my loved ones grown to be something that I wanted to long term and as a career choice; I still remember waking up on a Saturday morning seeing him outside barbequing, I would rush to change my clothes and go watch him grill; he cook for hours and would sometime let me flip a burger or two, he would tell me stories about his time in the navy and little incidents from his childhood. I’ve always wanted to be able to just cook and potentially tell stories whether that be relating to the dish and its significance or most likely telling in what better ways can improve said dish. And as I finally am able to confidently say that I now want to become a food writer, my passion for cooking and writing have given me the urge to document all that I've made so. As of now, with all the experience I’ve experienced as the daughter of a veteran, I can gladly say that my father shaped me into being a more selfless, hardworking individual who is passionate and confident in what you can and potentially do. I aspire to become someone that has multiple opportunities to choose from, and to be able to become financially stable in order to achieve whatever I desire instead of having to go onto the next best thing or to whatever is available. My mother drilled into my mind that God has a reason for everything, and I’m happy to say that reasoning is to be as successful and loving as my father.

So, why do we cook? Well, cooking has always been considered a necessary and beneficial skill every person should learn. Even if you're not the most excellent cook in the world, you should know how to make at least five meals, and just like any life skill some are more gravitated toward it and would like to pursue a career related to that interest and skill. So, to answer that question I can gladly say that we choose to cook because we are passionate about it, and yeah that’s an okay answer but this question alone has multiple answers determining from person to person. Another answer as to why we cook is because we feel more of a connection to our family( or in other cases culture) so to put it plainly it’s a unique road that connects to our history and past. Another reason can be more medical, for example wanting to find a more healthy way of cooking chicken or possibly just wanting to cook more healthy foods for your family so that they can grow up as healthy and long as possible. Oh! Or maybe you just suffer from some dietary restrictions and just want to make it easier for yourself ( or others i.e a loved one). The answers to this question are endless but, the skill needed to pursue this hospitality profession is found in few and is what typically drives us towards pursuing a career in this profession. Speaking of this “skill”, as said earlier to be able to pursue this hospitality profession, the skill needed that is found only in a few chefs nowadays is the willingness to learn, and that may sound crazy for some heck even a little bit ridiculous; however, being willing to learn is something that can greatly help a chef grow into an even greater chef, and that's the ability to continue on learning even after you graduate. Instead of just cooking the same thing every day and not experimenting and expanding your knowledge and skills is just a waste of your potential and it doesn’t differentiate you from being just a fast food worker with a degree working at a seemingly better restaurant. Instead of just going to culinary school and just sticking to the skills that you learned there and not expanding to the horizon, you’ll just be living a dull life and soon your passion for this career will dwindle. But, yeah having a willingness to learn and expand your skills is what’s in all of us and what drives us towards pursuing this profession, learning about new recipes and skills from all over the world makes us excited to try and renovate them into even better dishes. And while my choice of career is more leaning toward becoming a food writer, I've gained a passion for writing about unique food trends and expressing my opinion on certain foods that to me are worth talking about.