The Art of Coffee-Making
Despite my uncomfortable living situation currently, I absolutely love my job. I thought Pod and I spent enough time in Starbucks from those emo high school days but its a whole other world behind the bar. Today was the first day actually making drinks and as intimidating as that was, I have an awesomely encouraging supervisor to help me learn all the drink combinations. I learned the difference between a cappucino and a latte, how to make a caramel macchiato and an iced americano. It'll take sometime for me to feel comfortable making several iced lattes at once, but it is way more fun than chemistry or ochem labs becuase you can actually drink the concotions you make.
Honestly though, I probably came off as the biggest nerd among all my felllow baristas because I was excited when Jesse (my supervisor) took out a strip of PH paper to test the acidity of the sanitizer solution. I think I scared the crap out of him when I started taking notes on his instructions on how to use an espresso machine. What can I do? Taking notes is such an inherent part of learning for me now that I do not know how else i can memorize the procedures. (Procedures? even my choice of words speak of nerdiness)
I am actually considering NOT telling people that I am a biology major and applying to med school. Mostly because I feel like I should be a bit more "normal" around normal people. And I think all of us can agree that us competitive, anal and ultra-stressed out Pre-Meds are ANYTHING but normal. And that stereotype is NOT something I want to bring with me into med school.
So far, this is a very productive start to my year off, I am definitely doing something that I would not be doing for the rest of my life. Working a real life job with real people. By real I mean people who are different than me, who have a different take on life than what I have been exposed to. Like my supervisor who also works as an artist and has a giant pet rabbit. And really, this is a chance for me to improve on parts of myself that need work. Anyone who remotely knows me will also know that I am quite absent-minded, which explains how I blasted steamed cider all over myself because I did not realize the steam wand need to be completely submerged below the liquid.
In other news, I got a second part time job as a waitress at Sushi Land. The job will probably differ significantly from my job as a barista but it'll be really interesting to work at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Adding in Salsa classes every week, I am busier than I thought I would be this summer. I don't like having to drive so far to work but coming home tonight I had my first venti iced caramel macchiato that I (half) made. Success. I am learning to be a salsa-dancing, coffee-brewing, sushi-waitressing med school applicant. =)
Honestly though, I probably came off as the biggest nerd among all my felllow baristas because I was excited when Jesse (my supervisor) took out a strip of PH paper to test the acidity of the sanitizer solution. I think I scared the crap out of him when I started taking notes on his instructions on how to use an espresso machine. What can I do? Taking notes is such an inherent part of learning for me now that I do not know how else i can memorize the procedures. (Procedures? even my choice of words speak of nerdiness)
I am actually considering NOT telling people that I am a biology major and applying to med school. Mostly because I feel like I should be a bit more "normal" around normal people. And I think all of us can agree that us competitive, anal and ultra-stressed out Pre-Meds are ANYTHING but normal. And that stereotype is NOT something I want to bring with me into med school.
So far, this is a very productive start to my year off, I am definitely doing something that I would not be doing for the rest of my life. Working a real life job with real people. By real I mean people who are different than me, who have a different take on life than what I have been exposed to. Like my supervisor who also works as an artist and has a giant pet rabbit. And really, this is a chance for me to improve on parts of myself that need work. Anyone who remotely knows me will also know that I am quite absent-minded, which explains how I blasted steamed cider all over myself because I did not realize the steam wand need to be completely submerged below the liquid.
In other news, I got a second part time job as a waitress at Sushi Land. The job will probably differ significantly from my job as a barista but it'll be really interesting to work at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Adding in Salsa classes every week, I am busier than I thought I would be this summer. I don't like having to drive so far to work but coming home tonight I had my first venti iced caramel macchiato that I (half) made. Success. I am learning to be a salsa-dancing, coffee-brewing, sushi-waitressing med school applicant. =)