I'm spending this lazy, rainy Saturday morning working on homework and getting some other things done. One of those things I had to to was write a scholarship essay. The topic said, "Describe your most meaningful achievements and and how they relate to your field of study and your future goals." Because my ultimate dream is opening my own bakery, I decided to focus on that portion of my life. I thought I would share it with y'all since, after all, this is a baking blog. If you get all the way through it, MAJOR props to you. I know it's fairly long. Anyway, enjoy!
Scholarship Essay
My love for baking is certainly a result of eggs. That’s right—eggs. Ever since a young age, I have always loved to bake. I remember standing on a kitchen chair as a young girl, reaching to the counter to help my mom mix up some chocolate chip cookies. I would dump in the flour she measured out for me, add the sugar, and stir. What came next was my favorite part. The next step was cracking the eggs into the bowl. I always wanted to break the eggs. I don’t know what it was about that cold, hard, round food that was so enticing to me. Nevertheless, I never missed a chance to crack one into the bowl. And so my love for baking was born.
As I got older, my passion for baking began to grow. Beginning in high school, I started following numerous food blogs. I constantly found new recipes I wanted to try. I would (and still do) compile them into a word document and save them for a rainy day. Any time I had a chance to bake something, I would pull up my recipe list and find something I had been dying to try. Today, that word document is 82 pages long. I think it’ll take me a few more rainy days to get through my list. I then decided to begin my own food blog—A Day in the Life of an Aspiring Baker. I post pictures and recipes of the foods I make. I even include some of my own random thoughts of the day, often completely unrelated to food.
Not only did my passion for baking grow in high school, but my talent grew as well. Around the time I began my food blog, I started making all kinds of cupcakes—cookies and cream cupcakes, Milky Way cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, carrot cake cupcakes, and my ever-famous vanilla cupcake. I learned how to perfect the cupcake shape and the icing swirl on top. Soon after, people actually began to buy cupcakes from me. I was flabbergasted. Someone wanted to buy something I made? I was going to make money by doing something I absolutely loved? I didn’t know that was possible. I associated work with words such as boring, awful, long, and exhausting. That’s not to say baking is not often long and exhausting, but it’s certainly not a burden to me in any way. I could spend hours on end in the kitchen, not even noticing the time quickly passing by. It was incredible. So, as people began buying my cupcakes, I started baking more and more. Not only did I bake cupcakes, but I baked cakes, cookies, and other desserts. I was in my element, and I loved it.
I would consider the growth of my baking talent to be one of my most meaningful achievements. While many are gifted in sports, singing, math, writing, etc., God has given me a talent for baking. I learn something new each and every time I get in the kitchen, and I believe it will only continue as I get older. I am so thankful for this God given gift, and I want to use it to glorify Him.
In the past, each time someone asked me what my major was, I didn’t exactly know what to tell them. I would tell them my chosen major with uncertainty, knowing I hadn’t definitely decided on one. During my first semester of college, my major changed from journalism to dietetics to advertising. I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my life. However, in January, I attended the Passion 2012 conference in Atlanta. One of the speakers emphasized the fact that God has given us passions and gifts for a reason. My love for baking was not to be left alone. I knew what I wanted to do with my life—own my own bakery. Therefore, I began to seek the best college path and major to make that dream a reality. I decided to major in management. Not only will management be extremely helpful to me in opening my bakery, but it will provide me with a very versatile degree. I will likely need to find a job right out of college, for I need to accumulate some savings before I can open my bakery. Therefore, a degree in management will give me plenty of job opportunities.
Focusing more on my future bakery, I would love to open it in my hometown of Kennesaw. I picture a quaint, peaceful store where guests can come in to enjoy a cupcake and a hot cup of coffee. The store itself will be welcoming and warm. It will provide customers a place to sit and read, work, or simply enjoy time with friends. I plan to not only sell desserts to eat in the store, but I hope to sell wedding cakes, birthday cakes, and other special orders. Having a degree in management will be so helpful to me as I try to organize business strategies for my bakery. It will help me open the store, run the store, make a profit off the store, and deal with customers and sellers for the store. I truly hope to make this dream a reality, and I am determined to do everything I can to make that happen.
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