“Iron Sharpens Iron,” reminds me of my personal quote that keeps me motivated, “ I am made of those who came before me.” It's important to remember why you do the things you do. Do not forget advice from those who have been working because that information is what has been passed down from others to you. When I started to learn to cook it was from my great grandmothers. My mom and grandma never really learned because they were asked to stay out of the kitchen. This started to be my special time with them. I learned that in our family cookie recipe, the reason hers was always fluffier than her kids was that she didn't just use baking soda but it was a mixture of baking powder with soda. The reason the meat for our tacos was so good was the fact we put in tomato paste to help deepen the flavor. This is what started my journey with food. I got the opportunity to during my junior year of high school I joined our local culinary program at our career complex. I learned the importance of food safety and received many ServSafe certifications. I loved learning new dishes that I could bring home to cook for the family. My teacher provided me with opportunities to expand my knowledge by letting me participate in competitions such as Skills USA (Restaurant Service, Interviewing), and ProStart Management. My time in Skills USA taught me reliable skills to use in the workforce wherever path I chose to take, while my ProStart Management competition gave me a brief glimpse into running a business and what it takes to make one succeed in the industry. The journey that my culinary classes have taken me is to a Dietetics Program. I’m working to get a degree so that way I can implement plans for people to eat healthier and offer cooking classes for those who are scared to start. Writing cookbooks that are simple for people to follow so they can feed their families. I believe that healthy food should be accessible. Our food should always be fun. My professors have been supportive of my goals and are willing to help me with a specialized learning plan to achieve my goals. I am made of those who came before me. My teachers have made me passionate about what I do. Every day I will remember to be grateful and listen with care, after all, “Iron Sharpens Iron.”

My name is Emma Dupuis. After lots of hard work, I graduated high school with a determination to succeed in college and become a dietitian. I remember feeling hopeless after the COVID shutdown, thinking I wouldn't be able to get in anywhere with my grades. I worked with a counselor and got accepted into a Career Complex that offered a culinary class, which changed how I viewed the workforce, the people around me, and myself. During this time, my mom was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and had to change her diet multiple times. In my culinary class, I asked for help so I could make new meals for my family so we could eat together again. This inspired me to look into dietetics. Realizing how much it helped my family, I felt a strong desire to help others on their journeys. Throughout high school, I joined many clubs and volunteered while maintaining a 3.0 GPA. The band was the first club I joined. One thing I learned was the importance of taking care of yourself while working with others, bringing home many medals for our accomplishments. In the Creative Writing Team, I traveled with my teammates to work together on writing about our given prompts. My classmates and I wanted to bring theater back to our home school, so we discussed it with teachers and the school to get the program running again. One of my biggest achievements was starting and becoming the president of our school’s first-ever Gender and Sexualities Alliance. My goal was to ensure that all students had a space to feel heard and discover how to be happy with themselves. Volunteering made me a significant part of my community. My brother's teachers asked if I could help with the elementary school's Lego Club, and I jumped at the opportunity. I planned activities and supported the kids, all while strengthening my bond with my brothers. Later, this allowed me to help with the elementary soccer club during the summer. The band I was part of needed help with the concession stand, so I spent Thursday nights helping out and meeting new people. Last year was bittersweet because I aged out from volunteering at our local Knight of Columbus Fish Fry, where I had volunteered since I was 9. I am so happy to watch my brothers now volunteer where I started, seeing why volunteering is important to the community. Receiving a scholarship would greatly reduce my financial burden for housing and classes that my financial aid doesn’t cover. I am working to put myself through college, making sure the financial burden is not on my parents so they can properly care for my younger brothers, who I strive to be a role model for. I am applying for scholarships so I can spend less time working and more time on my academic goals. Thank you for reading and considering me for the Schmid Memorial Scholarship.

I started my first volunteer job when I was 8 years old at the Nights of Columbus fish fry. My Great Grandfather was a member and Uncle were members and would bring me to eat while they were there. I saw my cousins working hard it seemed like they knew everyone and I wanted to be a part of it. I asked if I could help and they set me up next week to work by running carts of food to people. After being able to run the carts by myself the next year I asked if I could bring my younger brother to help. After that, we ran carts, cleaned tables, and assisted with whatever the people who came to eat needed. I started to recognize people and their families more and became friends with most of the tables I helped. When I got to be 14 I was able to do more of the food handling so I would come earlier in the day. When food was prepped and ready I got to direct new volunteers to work that needed to be done and saw the joy they got from helping their community just as much as I do. Now that I am 18 I have aged out of that part of the volunteer work. Now I am happy to bring desserts and clear tables when visiting. Outside of that volunteer job, I looked for what I could help around my school district. My high school allowed volunteers to help the elementary school clubs. Looking at my younger sibling's interests I had the opportunity to volunteer with Lego Club and elementary soccer. Not only was it a way to get to know my siblings better but I got to help their peers work together and become a team. I am going to school to become a dietitian. The goal has always been to heal the part of me who was so worried if I could ever bring food to family gatherings and have everyone be able to eat it. I want to bring the same hope I got finding out that even with health restrictions food which is one of the most important things wouldn’t change for the worse. While helping people it is a dream of mine to write and publish a series of cookbooks. In the cookbooks, I will have recipes you can make that are small or large-scale for yourself or a family. Catering to intolerances, and food allergies alike. It is difficult to make changes and searching for recipes online can be difficult if you don’t know what you are looking for the books will be able to reach more people than I see. People can be afraid of the changes and don’t know where to start my goal is to make it easier. This is my plan to help people in my community in the future.

After college, find a job to help who I can. The goal has always been to heal the part of me who was so worried if I could ever bring food to family gatherings and have everyone be able to eat it. I want to bring the same hope I got finding out that even with health restrictions food which is one of the most important things wouldn’t change for the worse. While helping people it is a dream of mine to write and publish a series of cookbooks. In the cookbooks, I will have recipes you can make that are small or large-scale for yourself or a family. Catering to intolerances, and food allergies alike. It is difficult to make changes and searching for recipes online can be difficult if you don’t know what you are looking for. Lots of people who are afraid of the changes and don’t know where to start my goal is to make it easier. Steps that I have taken towards my dream is to cook. I went to the Saginaw Career Complex and studied Culinary and Hospitality. Learning how to cook specialty meals for people besides my family made me realize how many more people had dietary restrictions and were unsure about what to do. For recipes in my cookbook I have started a collection of vintage cookbooks and seeing diet advice through the years only makes me more determined to write something new. To write not about what we need to restrict but improve our diets to help our bodies. At Central Michigan University they offer students internships and I will work hard to study somewhere like a nearby hospital or school district, shadowing others with similar dreams so that when I graduate I have experience before going straight into the workforce.