Hello all! I hope that your 2024 is off to a wonderful start. My apologies for not writing a January newsletter, but then again, I can’t imagine anyone was just sitting around waiting for it, either. This should be a monthly thing, but sometimes I’m just busy! Or, sometimes, I just don’t have anything to write about (I don’t like writing just for the sake of writing). I like writing when I have a feeling or a thought that inspires me to write. So, here we go:
I’m getting near the end of my second batch of students since I returned from surgery. I have been very lucky because both classes have been wonderful. This job can be so different purely because of the students that attend the school. You have some classes that are excited, passionate, invested, and love to be here every day. Then, you take the exact same curriculum and teach it in the same way, and you can still be met with some classes that have poor attendance, don’t hand in their work, or act like you’re dragging them through the program kicking and screaming like they don’t want to be here at all. And to be clear: this has nothing to do with ability. It doesn’t matter if I have a class full of the most incapable cooks on earth…I just need them to WANT to be here. Our job is to help people become better cooks, and I love trying year after year to rise to that challenge. It’s purely an attitude issue. Since I’ve been back, these last two classes have had so much drive, energy, and enthusiasm. It has been an absolute joy to come to work every day. They have been a reminder of why I love this job so much, and I am very grateful for each and every one of them. I am also thankful that the number of wonderful classes I’ve shared a kitchen with over the years has far outnumbered the number of less motivated classes. There will always be challenging classes with challenging students and challenging people, but they always make you appreciate the classes that show up and give you 100% every day.
Stay safe out there, everyone. We love you!