"i was taught a month ago, to bide my time and take it slow..."
I've never thought of myself as an adult really...and it's a little strange how people approach you when you're in college- employers, parents, relatives. They expect something from you and in a way they're right, but in another sense I feel like if you expect everything from yourself there's no room to enjoy everything and everyone around you. America has its standards for when you're officially an adult and we're all aware of them. But as I've gotten a little older, I realize that people as individuals have their own standards. And not just about drinking...about family life, about religion, about relationships, about school, about all sorts of things that may or may not be frowned upon.
This past week I've been by my standards very adult-like. I had my first job interview where I really wanted the job. I walked in Golden Castle and got hired on the spot without so much as an...are you qualified? I went into Chilis and was nervous but more nervous about the fact that what if I did get hired? When I went in for the Winterthur interview I was nervous, but I knew that I wanted the job. I dressed the part, I felt somewhat qualified, and I even straightened my hair lol. The chef Tim was the first one to ask for my resume (which I've had ready since 1st semester) and he actually liked it. He does catering for weddings at Winterthur, runs the Sunday brunch buffet, and is the executive chef in the kitchen. It's not a 7 day a week job, but it's experience and he totally understood as a UD graduate who went to college and culinary school, which is something that I hope do in the future.
I also did something that I usually would never do- I literally babysat. An adorable 4 month old named Henry Collins whose family goes to my church. I thought about telling them no, but they were really in a jam and I decided to help them out...and man oh man did I...8:30-6 whew. And as much as I wanted to just cry when I was holding little Henry and he was crying, I didn't let myself do that. Eventually he calmed down, but because he was still breast feeding and his mom didn't leave enough milk for the extra hungry baby it was a struggle. Oh! and I found their apartment on my own hehe.
On Friday, I worked a one day catering job for the Wilmington Country Club at AI DuPont Hospital from 6-12 pm. After serving two courses, set up, clean up, and not to mention several wobbly trays of half filled wine glasses later the job was done and I could tell how stressful the chefs were behind the scenes...but they were enjoying themselves too, which made me feel like, hey...maybe I could do this one day.
The beauty of allll this is that right now we are so lucky. We don't have a family to support of our own, we don't have to be stuck in jobs that we don't enjoy or even decide on a job. We have sooo much time to test, experiment, dip, what have you in this huge world. And we don't have to grow up now. We still have time to smuggle a case of beer into a friend's house...or into the woods, we still have time to pretend like we're going to sleep overs...and end up dancing on chairs, we still have time to leave our rooms a mess, or watch movies all day, to picnic in the park...or play in parks with little kids, to retake classes, to switch jobs, to meet new people, and to be ourselves without worrying...oh if I fall in a creek will I look unprofessional...or do these man shorts send the right message to employers?
In the end, does rushing really get you anywhere? Sure you'll get somewhere on time...but you'll be frazzled and most likely in a salty mood. There's time to take chances, make mistakes...even big ones. Right now I'm so glad that I'm in school because as much as I thought the career waitresses at Golden Castle were the coolest people ever, I know that at my age I'd never be ready for a life on my own. I think school is the best time to try new things because as much as we're finding out more about careers and professions, we also have the most time to find out about ourselves.
This past week I've been by my standards very adult-like. I had my first job interview where I really wanted the job. I walked in Golden Castle and got hired on the spot without so much as an...are you qualified? I went into Chilis and was nervous but more nervous about the fact that what if I did get hired? When I went in for the Winterthur interview I was nervous, but I knew that I wanted the job. I dressed the part, I felt somewhat qualified, and I even straightened my hair lol. The chef Tim was the first one to ask for my resume (which I've had ready since 1st semester) and he actually liked it. He does catering for weddings at Winterthur, runs the Sunday brunch buffet, and is the executive chef in the kitchen. It's not a 7 day a week job, but it's experience and he totally understood as a UD graduate who went to college and culinary school, which is something that I hope do in the future.
I also did something that I usually would never do- I literally babysat. An adorable 4 month old named Henry Collins whose family goes to my church. I thought about telling them no, but they were really in a jam and I decided to help them out...and man oh man did I...8:30-6 whew. And as much as I wanted to just cry when I was holding little Henry and he was crying, I didn't let myself do that. Eventually he calmed down, but because he was still breast feeding and his mom didn't leave enough milk for the extra hungry baby it was a struggle. Oh! and I found their apartment on my own hehe.
On Friday, I worked a one day catering job for the Wilmington Country Club at AI DuPont Hospital from 6-12 pm. After serving two courses, set up, clean up, and not to mention several wobbly trays of half filled wine glasses later the job was done and I could tell how stressful the chefs were behind the scenes...but they were enjoying themselves too, which made me feel like, hey...maybe I could do this one day.
The beauty of allll this is that right now we are so lucky. We don't have a family to support of our own, we don't have to be stuck in jobs that we don't enjoy or even decide on a job. We have sooo much time to test, experiment, dip, what have you in this huge world. And we don't have to grow up now. We still have time to smuggle a case of beer into a friend's house...or into the woods, we still have time to pretend like we're going to sleep overs...and end up dancing on chairs, we still have time to leave our rooms a mess, or watch movies all day, to picnic in the park...or play in parks with little kids, to retake classes, to switch jobs, to meet new people, and to be ourselves without worrying...oh if I fall in a creek will I look unprofessional...or do these man shorts send the right message to employers?
In the end, does rushing really get you anywhere? Sure you'll get somewhere on time...but you'll be frazzled and most likely in a salty mood. There's time to take chances, make mistakes...even big ones. Right now I'm so glad that I'm in school because as much as I thought the career waitresses at Golden Castle were the coolest people ever, I know that at my age I'd never be ready for a life on my own. I think school is the best time to try new things because as much as we're finding out more about careers and professions, we also have the most time to find out about ourselves.