My name is Emily Sayland, this coming up school year I will be a sophomore at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, NC. I am currently studying to get an associate's degree in baking and pastry arts; I will graduate with this degree in the spring semester of two thousand twenty-seven. The things that inspire me to bake is my passion for creating joy through food for others, also my love for serving others. I started cooking at a very young age with my grandmother, but I feel in love with baking. Being able to bring people joy and happiness through food, while also being able to express myself and my creative too. Another thing that inspires me to bake is creating desserts or pastries for people that have allergies or other things and being able to accommodate them. For example, my aunt is gluten free, so by going to pastry school I have learned how to make desserts that are free of gluten but taste no different. I truly have a passion for being able to serve others and spreading joy and happiness through food. My favorite thing to bake is cupcakes, what I love most about them is how versatile they can be, from the flavor or filling or how you chose to decorate them. I picked cupcakes as my favorite thing to bake not because I love to bake them, but because I love to decorate them. From the different types of buttercreams or icing you can use and how you chose to color it. However, recently I have gotten into using buttercream to create flower designs and putting a bunch of cupcakes together to make it look like a bouquet of flowers, but they are really cupcakes. After decorating them like different flowers, I then take paper cups and staple six of them together into a circle. Then take green tissue paper and wrap it around the cupcake and put it into one of the cups, till all the cups have cupcakes in them. Last you wrap the cups in tissue paper like you do actual bouquets of flowers. My plan for the future is to start working with different companies, like fast-paced, high production companies. I plan to start working on this goal by completing an internship this fall at Disney World, I will be joining the Disney Culinary Program. I will be a culinary assistant/ baking and pastry, it will consist of making normal pastries but at a higher volume. I am hoping that I will enjoy a fast-paced environment and making pastries at such a large volume and will continue working there. I want to work in different working environments, to expand my knowledge and experience. However, the end goal of it all is moving back to my hometown and open up my own bakery. I am going to create my own bakery that is affordable, since I come from a small lower-class community.

My mother has been a single parent since I was four years old, when my father passed away. I watched her struggle and try and continue to raise me and my sister by herself, while also grieving the death of her husband. She showed me what strength and determination looked like at a very young age. She taught me how to keep trying and going when things got hard, and that giving up was not an option. I believe that this has shaped me into a person who does not back down from a challenge. Once I figured out that I wanted to purse my love for cooking and get a degree in baking and pastry arts, that it wasn't going to be easy. Having labs for six hours, almost every day on top of regular academic classes. I knew there were going to be some hard days, but I would have to push through and continue to get good grades. When choosing what college, I was going to attend, I was only looking at community colleges because I knew that we couldn't afford my dream college. However, my senior year of high school I worked endlessly applying to as many scholarships I could so I could possibly turn my dream into a reality. Though I didn't get enough scholarships to cover everything I earned a good amount, my mother came to me and told me that I was going to be able to go to my dream school, Johnson & Wales University. She told me she could see how determined I was trying everything in my power to get there, that she would help cover some of my tuition. However, this year we have had to put money aside for somethings and I would like to take away the burden that is on my mother, having to pay for me to finish school. I have been working everyday towards that, by applying to multiple scholarships, in hopes of being able to tell her everything is covered. With my degrees, I plan to work with different companies, learning and gaining experience. However, my end goal is to move back to my small community and open up my own bakery. I want to open up a bakery that is afford and donates baked goods to different events in the county. I know that the community I come from is considered lower class, which is one of the many reasons I want to create a business that is afford and contributes to giving back to the community. I want them to be able to enjoy baked goods that taste expensive but are affordable to them.

When I was just four years old, my father took his own life. This affected me in so many different ways, from watching my mother grieve the death of her husband, to seeing how our families reacted and treated us differently afterwards. To now learning more about mental health and sharing knowledge and advocating for mental health and awareness about suicide. I grew up with a sister who is only two years older than me, however, my sister and I did not have a normal sister relationship. After my father passed away, the first couple of months we had so many family members coming over to check in on us and help my mom with cleaning or cooking. But after that first year, they stopped coming over as much, and it really took a toll on my mother. She tried her hardest to keep everything together and take care of my sister and I, but we could tell she wasn't okay. As, we grew up my sister step into a motherly role for me helping me get ready in the mornings and helping me do my homework and study. My mom still cooked and cleaned the house, but that is when I noticed she was really sad and that when I learned about depression and eating disorders. My mother would cook us dinner, but she would not make herself a plate and when we asked if she was going to eat, it was always the same thing, I'll eat later. But she never did, and then she began to lose weight, a lot of weight. When I tried to talk to family members about my father's death or about how my mom was not okay, they always brushed it off. They never wanted to talk about why he took his life and how it after my mother mentally. When I got into middle school, I started having mental issues myself. That was when I took it upon myself to learn about mental illness and suicide. I became aware of what causes mental illness and how you can prevent or help deal with mental issues. I talked to my mother about therapy and talking to someone about how my dad's passing had affected me, but she did not want me to. That was when I made the decision to start talking to my school consular and get help. They helped me process my dad's death, and that was when I chose to start spreading awareness about suicide. In high school, I joined a club we had called "Project Please Stay", it was about spreading awareness about mental health, and it was also a suicide hotline. I also constantly post about mental health on my Instagram page. My experience with mental health has turned me into an advocate not only from mental health but other important issues in the world. I now have goals that I would not have had, like wanting to spread awareness and volunteering for different organizations to help people and also educate people on mental health.

As a baking and pastry student, I have learned that hospitality is not just about the food, it is about creating moments for connection. My passion for hospitality stems from the joy of creating memorable experiences and serving others. I have chosen to have background knowledge in baking and pastry arts before continuing my education in hospitality and tourism. I made this decision based on my passion for baking and spreading joy through food. However, at my time at Johnson & Wales University I have found a passion for hospitality and tourism. Being able to serve others and create meaningful connections with people. As I continue my education, I hope to use food as a way to bring people together, celebrate culture, and spread positivity. However, I believe hospitality is so much more than providing a meal, it is about making people feel seen, respected, and welcome. Through my career in this industry, I aim to make a difference in the world through hospitality by combining creativity, service, and compassion. Whether that be through food, community programs, or guest experiences. I want to use hospitality to build relationships, spread kindness, and leave a lasting legacy on every person I serve. I will start making this impact this fall by completing my internship with Disney’s Culinary Program. I hope through this experience I will gain the knowledge and experience of creating magic and happiness for a multitude of people. I am interested in this scholarship because the story of Sylvester Taylor and his career really resonate with me. It reminds me of the plans I have for my career and my goals in life. With this scholarship I will be able to complete my associate's degree in baking and pastry arts and continue my education by applying for a bachelor’s program in hospitality and tourism. This scholarship would help with the burden of being able to afford completing my degree. It would also allow me to put all my energy and focus into my internship and furthering my career in the hospitality industry.