School Update: Halfway Done

I was actually pretty nervous about starting this semester off.  The last time I took a full load of classes I struggled to keep up with all the homework.  I was also very active in several organizations that took a lot of my time.  I didn't know how to balance things and I definitely didn't know what time management really meant.

This semester, like I mentioned in this post, I'm taking five classes which equates to fifteen credit hours.  I honestly can say that I've learned a lot from this semester already and we're only half way done!  I've learned how to prioritize things, streamline certain activities, how to say no to extra shifts that would put my academics on the back burner, and most of all, that I am capable of great things.

I think a lot of this semester was about learning what I'm getting myself into with this industry.  Before my first class in August I had completed five classes at Butler, only three of which pertained to my major.  Those three, in all honesty, were just the minimalistic classes that introduced me to a very broad horizon of things.  This semester, five classes that are each specifically geared towards something particular.

My favorite class is hospitality law because I'm learning so many new things and the cases we study really make me use my skills to interpret the law.  It's stressful for sure on Mondays when I'm finishing up notes for class or a case study and wonder why I put so much work into the assignments.  But don't worry, that only motivates me more to get that GPA up.  But apparently my hard work has been paying off because I was the only one in the class to get an A on the first exam.  We turned in our take home exams yesterday so I'm not sure how my second exam went, more on that later I suppose.

The largest surprise this semester has offered in the area of my classes has been how much I've enjoyed my catering class.  I didn't even want to take the class but I needed it for my degree and so I told my advisor to put me in it regardless of me wanting to take it or not.  I have learned so much from my instructor and I've even considered a job in food service on the catering spectrum of things.  I surprised the hell out of myself when we got our first exam back and I was the only who got all of the math equations correct for determining food costs and such.  Believe me, I was surprised.  It took me two weeks in class of making my instructor dumb things down like he was teaching a third grader before I knocked that exam out of the park. I was a skeptical of my skills.

I've done two different events so far this semester.  Both of which I was not required to complete but I did it because A) I was wanting to meet other people in the hospitality and culinary arts programs, B) It got me out of the house for a few hours, C) It doesn't hurt to add these things to my resume.

The first event was a catered event.  Our program was tasked with preparing to go lunches on site for a 4H event in El Dorado.  We were told we were going to be feeding some where around 600 (I think.  That seems like forever ago, I just know there were a lot of people we saw!)  The culinary arts students made baked beans, while our school cafeteria was in charge of cooking all the hamburgers.  We had chips and cookies to place in the to go containers as well.  This even was a great experience because I got to work with people I had only heard about or had seen in passing.  Team working skills were fantastic with the group, especially when we ran out of hamburgers due to communication errors with the school cafeteria.
 

The second event happened just this past Saturday.  It was the Midwest Beerfest held at Century II in Wichita.  I was asked if I would like to attend this even to help promote our school and most importantly our culinary arts and hospitality program.  It was a no brainer to attend the event if I was in town (my grandmother was hospitalized earlier that week and my weekend plans were still a bit grey at the time I was asked to take part).  I was one of a small group of students who participated.  I got to wear a fancy bight yellow wristband indicating I was a designated driver because, hello, Jess isn't 21 yet.  I was very happy that I was able to attend though because I got to speak one on one with potential students and even in one case I helped a guy get in contact with our lead instructors to get enrolled for classes next spring!  I wasn't apart of the culinary arts project that entered wings into the Wingfest contest that all proceeds raised went to the Make A Wish foundation but the team brought up three awards and that still something to be proud of!

Our set up before the event started.  We actually ended up changing it a

it before the event was opened.  L is pictured, a second year

student who is getting ready to graduate!

I can't forget the awesome time we had at the Ducks Unlimited event with the catering class.  We didn't actually get to stay for the event but we got to tour the event setup before the event at Century II and was able to tour the convention hall kitchen.  Talk about one big kitchen!  We were able to see how the catering company set things up as well as how the organization set their part of the event up.  This was one of my favorite things so far from this semester.

Also this semester so far, I've gone to two different food shows, Ben E. Keith and Sysco.  Sysco was a school trip and the Ben E. Keith one was with the nursing home I volunteer at.  Both were great experiences and I'll talk about that more later this week.

There are a few more events going on this semester that I either have to attend/work because of my class involvement or because of other reasons.  Sadly, I don't have any information to share about those events at this time.

Whoa, talk about a lot of stuff that has gone down this semester! Thanks for reading my words and babble about school.  If you can't tell, I really enjoy it!




P.S. We cancelled our trip to Denton to visit the University of North Texas due to my grandmother being in the hospital.  We're supposed to be rescheduling sometime in the next month I believe.