“Make this a game, compete with each other, that’s the only way you’ll improve. Stop being complacent with yourself,” is what my band director would say when have gotten comfortable with where we are. “My greatest competition is myself,” was part of the creed he had us say after every practice, performance, and competition. "Support each other, that's what we're here for," he's say for any given situation. To pursue any passion, it takes a lot of commitment. The time, energy, and resources it takes to start and maintain something you love can be both rewarding and exhausting. Naturally, over time, once you get comfortable, it is easy to hit a block that gets in the way of progression. Progression can look like the motivation to keep going or the motivation to improve, and it is important to have both when it comes to something you care about. I am a believer in the power of community and self-accountability. How can you grow if you live in the echo chamber in your head? How can grow if you can’t accept criticism? How can you grow if you don’t give yourself the chance to mess up, be bad, or be afraid of trying to give yourself the opportunity to have something to build on? Iron sharpens iron could be the iron in yourself, or the iron of your peers. I find growth and being stagnant both equally uncomfortable in different ways, and it wasn’t until I found a community that pushed me to be better that I was able to embrace those feelings of discomfort and turn them into something meaningful. I was able to push myself because I wanted to be better for myself and because I wanted to match or surpass my peers. I gave up on the fear of embarrassment and discomfort that held me back and allowed myself to be embarrassed and criticized and learned from it instead of sitting in the feeling of shame. Once I entered culinary school, where everyone starts in the same place, but has different skill levels, I had to remember, we are all here with the same goal in mind, and apply the same mindset I had before. However, because this was a creative and educational space my approach on the matter was a bit different. While I am letting my innerself seek competition for personal growth, as creatives we are searching for inspiration and motivation. Because the industry is very saturated, and there are many different paths to take professionally, I found that it is important to surround yourself with like people you can build off of. One mind can come up with an idea, but many can help cultivate it and bring it to life. To me “iron sharpens iron” means to let go of your fears and push yourself to be the best you can be and embrace the discomfort in growth and find your community to help you reach, and return the favor to them. In an industry where you often give more than you receive, it is still rooted in the practice of hospitality, and to achieve the greatest results, there should be a team that is always pushing for personal greatness, and hold each other accountable for the collective reward. To please the people you intend to serve: let go of your ego, share ideas, and learn from each other. At the end of the day we all strive for the same goal, serve our best dish forward, give our clientele the best experience they could have, and feel good about the product we produce.

My passion for culinary arts stemmed from my love for eating. My passion now for getting a degree in culinary arts has two parts: the simple love of cooking, and the act of nurturing and sharing my love with others. I have always known since elementary school that I wanted to open a cafe/bistro. Growing up, the closest connection I had to my heritage was through my family's cooking. As much as I love my culture's food, I was also very curious about other cultural foods. Growing up, I loved watching cooking shows on TV, and not only was I interested in what they were cooking but what they were actually doing. The community aspect of eating together and putting in so much effort to make a meal looked so much fun. Once I was old enough to start cooking for myself and not just being an "assistant" in the kitchen, I knew for sure this is what I wanted to do. My culinary goals are: to go to a technical college to obtain my culinary degree; work in a kitchen; and open my own food establishment, ideally serving Lao-French-American fusion. My plan to achieve these goals is already in action. To save me time and money, I am currently taking dual enrollment classes that will count as credits toward my culinary arts degree. I currently have three classes that are ready to be used and I am currently working on gaining nine more. I am in my senior year of high school and all of my classes are focused on this career pathway. I am currently taking Culinary Arts 1 where we are learning how a kitchen runs and will be taking Culinary Arts 2 and completing the Culinary Arts pathway next semester. Outside of school, I continue to cook and bake as a hobby and continue to learn about different recipes, techniques, and chefs for both knowledge and pleasure. After I graduate high school, I would like to practice cooking and selling what I make at my local park's summer farmers market and find a job in the food service industry to gain as much experience as I can during the summer before college officially starts. I would also like to find the time to develop recipes and experiment. After graduating with my culinary arts degree, I would like to continue participating in the summer farmers market and work in restaurants before opening my own to get an understanding of how a restaurant is supposed to run.