I was never the kind of girl to pick favorites. I loved all colors, flavors of ice cream, music, cars, flowers. I never knew what college I wanted to go to, I never got that feeling that I was where is was meant to be. There is one absolute in my life that has never waivered. I am absolutely obsessed with cooking.
To me sitting down to a good book, is flipping through my favorite recipes in a cookbook. I far prefer cooking a meal for my best friends than being cooked for. When I see a dining room table I plan menus for it. When I taste something cooked by someone else I imagine all that went into it. I think about it constantly getting excited over even the sound that a carrot makes when it snaps.
Which is why I am at SMU getting my business degree.
So why am I not at cordon bleu donning a chefs coat and perfecting my julienne? My original idea was to do exactly that. To make sure that I was absolutely positive I sought out an internship at a local cupcake bakery. After my first week the night bakers quit, and the head baker was left to not only bake everything, but also manage the shop during the day. When I came into work the next day I saw the dark bags under her eyes, and the list she left me of what to do that day. At the age of fifteen with no experience she left me to run the bakery for the day by myself. It was then that I fell in love with the idea of having my own place and completely rejected the thought of ever cooking in someone else’s kitchen.
I continued to work in bakeries throughout high school always taking notes of what I wanted for my own shop. While I sit in economics class, and calculus doodling pictures of cakes in my notebooks, I often wonder if I am in the right place. I wonder if I am setting myself up for a life in the corporate world and ignoring my dreams altogether in the name of practicality.
I know that in reality you can’t start a business out of thin air, and that having a back-up plan is highly important in the restaurant industry where 90% fail in the first year. But how much can a person focus on practicality without losing sight of their dreams?
I pose this question to the dreamers out there who opted for practicality. Am I doing the right thing? Should I return to economics tomorrow with the insurance that my degree will pay off? Or should I take a risk and go for it?
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5 comments:
I think it's really intersting that you asked this question, considering the basis of what we are going to be studying this semester: happiness. From how you talk about, it seems to me that nothing makes you happier than baking and cooking. And that's awesome. So I guess in a way it does confuse me as to why you are trying to get a business degree when you already know what your dream job is? Obviously, our entire lives we have heard things such as you have to have a backup plan in case it doesn't turn out. But if it's something that you really want, then you can always just try again until you suceed. I mean, a job is something you have to wake up to every morning. Do you want to wake up every morning knowing that you're not doing what you love? Or will you be happy enough to settle for the alternative?
If I was in your situation, I would have probably chosen the same path you have so far. A business degree is like a security blanket; you have a better chance at getting a well-paid, stable career if you chose the business route over the restaurant industry. However, it is clear that you can’t get your mind off your true passion, cooking. You know you love it and that it makes you happy. Luckily, you don’t have to ignore your dreams in the name of practicality. Though a career in business might not make you happy right now, you should still give it a chance. You can always still pursue your passion by taking cooking classes on the side; you don’t have to give up cooking all together. Cooking meals for your friends and planning dinner events are still things you could do while pursing a degree in business. If in the end you really don’t want to live the corporate lifestyle, there is always the option of starting your own bakery or restaurant with that degree. If cooking is truly your passion, you will find a way to make it fit into your life somehow.
I am in your position as well. Honestly, I think that it is great that you have something you love as much as cooking. I have danced my whole life, and similar to you, I wanted to own a dance studio. Unfortunately, I feel like my passion has moved on to something else. I’m not sure what it is yet. However, every so often, I have a nervous feeling that I am making a mistake of giving my childhood dream of owning a dance studio.
Like you I am also on the business track. I would say that it is important to get a degree, and I think business is a great choice because it gives you a security blanket, just like britt said. The good thing is, once you have a degree, you don’t have to stick to what your degree is. I plan to major in accounting. However, once I am in the real world, I don’t have to stick to only accounting. Therefore, graduate with a degree and you can still be a chef or open your own bakery.
College is a time of exploring. We come to this place to learn about degrees and jobs, but more importantly, we are here to learn who we are as individuals. Life is full of options and it has many twist and turns along the way. I think that we all have to see where life takes us. We just have to make sure we don’t lose sight of what we truly love and what truly brings us happiness.
You are lucky to know what you want to do with your life. The internship at the bakery was a good introduction to the reality side of your fantasy. And now, while it might be more fun to be cooking, the business degree can't hurt you, and you'll still be plenty young to do the culinary training after you finish at SMU. You don't have to get sidetracked into some corporate position unless you want to go that way for the money. Wisco88 is right, your post ties right in with some of Schumaker's points about happiness in today's world. You have to resist the messages to get rich quick, to climb the corporate ladder. Do what you love and you won't regret it.
I definitely think you are on the right path. Without a business degree, you would not know how to manage your own place. If I were in your place I would be doing the same thing. I actaully started out going after a business degree but had no idea what to do with it so I was not motivated enough to keep up with it. You definitely seem motivated enough by your dream to stick to your degree no matter how boring the class. I think you made the right choice. Good luck!
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