My Essential Questions for my Project: How can I work to improve my own baking and food understanding? How can I make food more accessible to people in poverty?
I feel that I answered both of my essential questions about improving my baking skills and about food accessibility. These questions were a great frame for my senior project and I feel like I used my time really well. By conducting interviews, doing many recipes from different sources, and shadowing professionals, I feel that I successfully answered my question: How can I work to improve my own baking and food understanding? By doing volunteering and conducting interviews I feel that I have successfully answered my other essential question: How can I make food more accessible to people in poverty? However, there is definitely still more that I can learn that has to do with both questions.
I did have to adjust my expectations for my project because I realized that it was hard to find volunteer shifts in the beginning, and creating my own schedule was difficult. I feel like I could have baked more and managed my time a bit better, but I did the best I could and I am proud of what I have accomplished. Especially because I was alone while volunteering, I feel that I didn't learn as much as I wanted to in that environment.
I did meet all my goals of what I wanted to bake, who I wanted to talk to, and how many times I wanted to volunteer. I had a goal to bake at least 3 times a week which I met most weeks, I also had a goal to volunteer at least twice a week which I could not meet for the first couple of weeks because there were not a lot of shifts available. However, for the last few weeks, I met this goal along with my writing goal of making a blog post on my personal blog for every interview, volunteering shift, and recipe that I do. I also wrote about the shadowing I did with Jesus and Harris.
One challenge I faced was creating my own schedule and keeping to it. It was difficult for me to have a consistent schedule that looked the same each week. So in my own way, I created a system that works for me. Some days I baked in the afternoon and I had to work around my volunteer shifts and interviews that I conducted. Another challenge I faced was finding volunteer shifts because they were all full. I overcame this by checking the website very frequently to see if any spots opened up for the upcoming weeks so I could plan ahead and sign up for every shift during my project. Eventually, they did and I signed up for the perfect times for me. Another challenge was writing my blog posts because I felt overwhelmed with the amount of writing I was doing. I decided to take things at my own pace and do the posts when I was ready and felt that I could do a recipe justice on my blog.
My understanding of baking has changed a lot throughout my senior project. Before my project, I thought baking was simple, and that all I needed to do was follow each recipe exactly. But then I came to realize that baking is a science, it involves math, and it's an art. The advice that I was given from many professionals helped me understand the ingredients better and work. They helped me learn how to bake things that I never knew I could make before. I grew so much as a baker and my passion for it has also grown even more. I feel so much more confident in my baking abilities now, I feel that I can make anything with a good recipe and a positive mindset. My writing skills have also improved a lot, I learned how to write recipes and make blog posts, and how to structure my own blog. I also learned a lot about food within the homeless population in New York City. I have grown as an individual in NYC because volunteering has made me feel very fulfilled.
My senior project has helped me realize that being a professional baker could potentially be a career option for me. A couple of the professionals that I talked to gave me advice for if I want to go into this field, and they talked to me about culinary school what it's like. It sounds amazing and I always thought that baking would just be a hobby for me, but I see myself doing it professionally because I love it so much. I also will volunteer more at homeless shelters such as The Bowery Mission in the future. Everyone is so nice there and I really like volunteering. I will definitely find a place like it when I go to college next year. I am so proud of how much I've improved my baking skills in general. But more specifically I am the proudest of my blueberry pie, my lemon meringue pie, and my carrot cake that I made. I am the least proud of the babka that I made as well as the zesty lime pie that I made. If I could do it all over again, I would make a better schedule and write my blog posts on time.
The hardest aspect was writing all the blog posts and documenting my work each week because it was hard getting everything down when I am thinking about so much at once. The most rewarding aspect was my friends and family eating my creations and complimenting me on my baked goods. I absolutely loved it when my parents would have a huge smile on their faces because they had an amazing bite of pie or when they just smelled what I had in the oven. Some people say that it sounds difficult seeing something you've worked so hard on for hours being eaten up and gone in 1 day. To me, that is so rewarding and it makes me feel like I did a great job.
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