校长奖学金获得者JULIETTA WRIGHT——从密歇根大学到肯代尔大学
2014年12月9日
肯代尔大学 - 对你而言成为校长奖学金的获得者意味着什么呢，你是如何得到这份殊荣的呢？
Julietta Wright - 成为校长奖学金获得者对我而言意义非凡。来到肯代尔大学学习是我做过的最艰难的决定之一，我无法用语言形容这个奖学金对我的意义有多么重大。长期以来我都是沿着学术这条道路前行，想成为一名科学家或医生，这也是每个人对我的期望。毕业时我是班级第四，而我的理科成绩一直都非常好，所以去年当我开始考虑进入烹饪学校学习时，我压力很大，因为我很担心人们对此的看法，也担心我可能永远都不会成功。然而，在经过很长时间的研究和更多次与好朋友敞开心扉的畅谈，我发现自己不得不回答一个简单的问题：做什么会使自己开心呢？答案是追求我的挚爱——烘焙。如果我继续留在密歇根大学，那么我就会花四年的时间以及成千上万美金学习一个我永远都不会用到的学位，我将在以后的生活中都厌恶着自己的工作。我担心我的父母会有异议，担心自己将来是否能够赚足够的钱来养活自己，但是我知道从最根本来讲这是我自己的生活，是我自己以后将要一直从事的工作，所以我必须做一些自己热爱的工作。不幸的是，我和父母的沟通并不成功，所以我自己承担起了支付肯代尔学费的重担。对于19岁的我而言，负担确实有点太重了。那时的我根本不知道如何进行贷款，如何使自己支付得起学费，但是在一些帮助之下，我开始申请奖学金，并做任何可以减少我借款压力的事情。幸运的是，我找到了一份导师助手的工作，但是我还是主要靠奖学金支持着自己。故事很长，这里我简短地说一下，我申请了两个重要的奖学金，校长奖学金是其中之一。然而，临近开学的时候，我发现由于某些原因我的申请并未被纳入校长奖学金的评估面试当中，学校住宿总监Jeanette告诉我说，他们会尝试帮我加进第二天的校长奖学金面试名额当中。最终校长Emily Williams Knight面试到了我，我不得不讲我根本没有感觉到这是一次面试。她非常亲切友好，对我的所有经历表示理解；她仅仅问了我的经历，我告诉她我是如何才能来到肯代尔学习的，而剩下的事情很快就搞定了。当天晚些时候，校长打电话给我祝贺我成为校长奖学金的获得者。这真的是一个让人难以置信的时刻，我感到如此的幸运和感恩能够赢得这一奖学金。这为我减轻了学生债务的压力。我非常感谢校长以及学校里倾听我的故事并帮助我的每一个人，他们支持着我追逐自己的梦想。
KC - 去年你进入密歇根大学学习。和我们谈谈你从美国最大的学校之一转到像肯代尔大学这种较小学校的感想吧。
JW - 首先，我想说我喜欢密歇根大学。它是一所非常好的学校，但是我认为来到肯代尔大学学习对我而言是一个必要的转变。我个人非常喜欢这种小班授课的模式，学生会得到导师更多的个人关注，更不必说我很喜欢与我的厨师导师一起享用早餐，听他们讲教学大纲以外的东西。我感觉自己更能投入到学习当中，更重要的是我热爱自己正在学习的东西。这是我在密歇根大学从未感受到的，在肯代尔大学我并不介意上早课，或者每天长时间往返学校，因为我真的感到非常兴奋能够去上课，我会尽我所能学习关于这个行业、烘焙和美食的所有知识。
KC - 你对烘焙和西点的兴趣是何时开始的？
JW - 我不知道自己是否有一个特定的时刻喜欢上了它，但是我确实知道自己在很小的时候在厨房里帮忙就开始喜欢它了，所以我很早就对美食感兴趣了。小的时候，我最喜欢的玩具是简易烤炉。那时我经常喜欢混合所有小东西，看着它们在那个小小的电灯泡下“烘焙”，直至我可以将它们拿出来，然后很自豪地让我的家人享用。当我差不多8岁的时候，我假想自己是烹饪节目的主持人，五年级的时候我在职业体检日当天装扮成了西点师。我一直都说我未来想要拥有一家自己的面包房。这是我一生的梦想。然而，当我渐渐长大时，我却从来没有真正将其当做一份“真正的工作”，所以当我决定去密歇根大学读书时，我选的专业是生物化学，方向是食品科学。我当时认为成为一名科学家可以将自己对烹饪的热爱和对科学的兴趣结合起来，但是在做过很多研究之后，我意识到坐在实验室和那些仿造食物味道的化学物质打交道并不是我未来想要做的事情。也就是在那时我决定追寻自己对烘焙的热情，进入烹饪学校学习，我不得不说这是我迄今为止做过最好的决定。
KC - 你最期盼从肯代尔大学获得什么？
JW - 我想说我对学习有关烘焙和西点的所有事情都非常兴奋。我喜欢上课的原因不仅仅是因为我在学习烹饪，而且也是因为我在学习各种原料的功能以及为什么要用这样的方式烹饪。烘焙是很讲究科学性的，我很喜欢这种感觉，最终了解到当自己在烹饪的时候正在发生着什么样的过程。仅仅几周后我就发觉自己的烘焙技能更好了，因为我现在感觉与自己的食材关系更密切了，我知道如何影响他们，如何使他们结成块、耐嚼或清脆。我也感到非常兴奋能够向行业经验丰富的各种厨师和导师学习，他们传授给我们如何成功的智慧和建议。他们每个人都会提供不同的观点和经验，帮助我构建自己的职业生涯，我认为这个层面和教会学生如何烘焙同样可贵。
KC - 问这个问题或许有点早……你从肯代尔毕业后你想要开启什么样的职业生涯呢？
JW - 问这个问题一点也不早！我们都必须拥有梦想，不是吗？正如我之前提到的，我一生的梦想就是拥有一家面包店和冰淇淋店。然而，自从来到肯代尔之后，我发现我真正感兴趣的是精致餐饮。如今，美食有太多的创造性和表达方式，我想我真正感兴趣的是成为一名西点主厨。我还想旅行，认识不同文化背景的人士，学到更多美食相关的知识。当然我还得看之后自己能走到哪里，但是未来我仍然想要开一家自己的面包房。我想开一家能够通过多种方式为大家带来快乐的店；我想要让其成为一个大家放松开心，和爱人品尝甜蜜美食、分享美好时光的好地方。我真的相信当你为其他人烘焙时，你会将自己的一部分融入到你制作的美食当中，所以我想要将自己已经获得和将会获得的经历通过烘焙分享给他人。我想要使大家开心，让他们感觉自己就像一个孩子一样无忧无虑或者就像在家里一样舒服，或者仅仅在我的店里或者能买到我制作的东西的地方感到快乐就行。
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CATCHING UP WITH PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARSHIP WINNER JULIETTA WRIGHT
12/09/2014
One year ago, Kendall College student Julietta Wright walked the campus of one of the nation’s largest and oldest schools, the University of Michigan, with her sights set on a career in a laboratory. Fast forward to today and Julietta, this year’s Presidential Scholarship recipient, is eyeing a career in her lifelong passion… baking.
Kendall College – What does it mean to you to be a Presidential Scholarship winner and talk about how that all came about?
Julietta Wright – Being the Presidential Scholarship winner quite honestly means everything to me. Coming to Kendall was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make and I can’t truly put into words how much this scholarship does for me. For a long time I had been on this academic path to becoming a scientist or a doctor, and that’s what I thought everyone expected of me. I had graduated fourth in my class and I had always done well in my science courses, so last year, when I started even considering the idea of culinary school I felt completely overwhelmed because I was so worried about what would people think, and that I would never be successful. After many hours of research however and many more hours of talking about it out loud with my best friends, I found myself having to answer one simple question: what will make me happy? And the answer is pursuing my love of baking. Had I stayed at UM, I would have spent four years paying thousands of dollars for a degree I would never use, and I would hate my job for the rest of my life. I was worried what my parents would say or if I’d make enough money to support myself one day, but in the end I know now that it’s my life, and I am going to be the one living it, so I have to do something I love. Unfortunately, the news didn’t go over as well with my parents, and so I took on the responsibility of paying for Kendall myself. It was a lot to take on at only 19 years old. I didn’t really understand how loans worked or how I’d ever be able to afford any of it, but with some help, I started applying for scholarships and anything that would help reduce the amount I’d have to borrow. Fortunately, I was able to get a job as an RA, but I was really counting on scholarships to help me. To make a very long and complicated story short, I had applied for two main scholarships, the Presidential being one of them. However, nearing the start of school I found out that for some reason my application hadn’t been considered for the Presidential interviews and the housing director Jeanette asked that they please try and get me in the very next day. Thankfully President (Emily Williams) Knight was able to interview me, and I have to say it didn’t feel like an interview at all. She was so kind and understanding about everything; she simply asked me my story and I told her how I had come to be at Kendall, and the rest happened so quickly. She called me later that day to congratulate me as the winner of the scholarship. It was truly an incredible moment because I felt so blessed and thankful to have won. It was a weight off my shoulders to not have the financial burden of student debt. I feel so much gratitude to the president and everyone at the college for listening and helping me, not only financially but to pursue my dreams.
KC – Last year you attended the University of Michigan. Talk about what it’s like going from one of the country’s biggest schools to a smaller community such as Kendall College?
JW – First, I want to start by saying that I love U of M. It’s a great school, but I think coming to Kendall has been a much-needed transition for me. I personally like the style of being in a small class setting where there is a lot of individual attention between the instructors and students, not to mention I love being able to eat breakfast with my chefs and listen to them talk about things outside of exactly what’s on the syllabus. Learning feels a lot more involved and more importantly I love what I’m learning. I never felt that at Michigan, but here at Kendall I don’t mind the early classes or the somewhat longer commute everyday because I genuinely am excited to go to class and learn everything I can about the industry, baking, and food in general.
KC – When did your interest in baking and pastry begin?
JW – I don’t know if I have a specific moment, but I do know I started helping in the kitchen from a very young age and so I have had an interest in food for pretty much my entire life. When I was little, my favorite toy was my Easy Bake Oven. I used to love mixing up the little packets and watching them “bake” under that tiny little light bulb until I could pull them out and proudly serve my family. When I was 8 or so, I would pretend I was the host of my own cooking show, and in fifth grade I dressed up as a pastry chef for career day. I’ve always said I want to own my own bakery one day. It has been a life-long dream of mine. However, as I got older, I never really considered it as a “real job” and so when I decided to go to Michigan, my major was biochemistry with an emphasis on food science. I thought that by being a scientist I could combine my love of cooking with my love of science, but after lots of research, I realized that sitting in a lab working with chemicals that imitated the taste of food wasn’t something I was going to be happy doing the rest of my life. It was at that point that I decided to follow my love and passion for baking and go to culinary school, and I have to say its one of the best decisions I have ever made.
KC – What are you most looking forward to at Kendall College?
JW – I would say I am most excited to just learn everything and anything I can about baking and pastry. The reason I love going to class so much isn’t just that I am cooking, but rather that I am learning about ingredient functions and why things act the way they do. Baking is very scientific and I like finally being able to understand exactly what is going on when I am cooking. I feel like a better baker even after a few weeks because I feel like I have such a closer relationship to my products now that I know what affects them, or what makes them cakey or chewy or crunchy. I am also excited about getting to meet a variety of chefs and instructors that have experience in the industry because they can pass down a lot of wisdom and advice on how to be successful. Each one can offer a different perspective and experience that really helps me develop into my professional career, and I think that aspect of culinary school is just as valuable as knowing how to bake.
KC – It might be a bit early for this question… but where do you hope your career takes you after you leave Kendall College?
JW – No, never too early! We all have to have dreams don’t we? As I mentioned, my life long dreams is to own a bakery and ice cream shop. However, since coming to Kendall though, I have found that I am really interested in fine dining. There is so much creativity and expression in food today that I am really interested in pursuing a career as a head pastry chef. I really want to travel and meet new people just to learn even more about food. I’ll have to see where that takes me, but I still want my bakery one day. I want to open a place that brings joy to people in so many ways; I want it to be a place where people come to laugh and be with the ones they love, and be able to share good times and memories over sweet treats. I truly believe that when you bake for someone, you are putting part of yourself into what you make, and so I really want to take the experiences I have had and will have and share those experiences with other people through my baking. I want to make people smile, to feel like a kid or to feel at home, and to just be happy in my shop or wherever they take the things I make.
【原文引自】：http://www.gheac.com/thread-6164-1-1.html
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