To answer simply I would tell you I’m just your average person. But since the age of 9, I wanted to be a pastry chef. I remember the days I’d spend in the kitchen making food and all kinds of desserts with my grandma. We’d always love to make my great-grandmother's special cookies that she had passed down to my grandma. In which my grandmother passed down to me. Being in the kitchen making those cookies always gave me this sense of accomplishment, especially when I got to see the smiles of the ones I baked for. From that day forward I knew the kitchen was a place I wanted to be. As I started my middle school career I was accepted into the Culinary Arts Academy. I spent those three years learning and building on my skills. Eventually getting the opportunity to pursue my passion even further as I continued into the academy in high school. The past two years I faced many trials and tribulations I never expected to face, but being in the kitchen always gave me peace of mind and time to unwind. If I didn’t feel like talking at the moment, I’d be baking. During my 2 years thus far in High school my teacher has made me her chef’s assistant. I work alongside her for school catering events and keeping the chaos of the kitchen in order during class. My teacher has told me of how while working under the pressure with time constraints and of course the rowdiness of teenagers I have worked well under the pressure and gone above and beyond, becoming one of her best students for her class. She has since become almost like a mentor to me and has shown me the tips and tricks of the kitchen. Being in the class has helped me prepare myself for what I want to work towards. Which is hopefully one day opening a restaurant or bakery myself. More and more every day I can see myself achieving the goal the little girl inside of me wished for, for so long. One thing I can say for sure is that good food and being surrounded by even greater family always put me in a good mood, so being able to make that happen in my community is something that has driven me as well. The thought of bringing people together and seeing them make memories like I was able to has driven me to push forward. Through the stress of the kitchen, I’ve learned to find balance and work with others to achieve the goal we all have in common, to learn to bake. Looking back I realize how much work I’ve done to reach this goal. Always taking it a step further and going above and beyond to make sure that my dream becomes reality.