Journal #38 - Job Shadowing

I have always considered the culinary arts for my potential career. Of course, my first choice will always be anything in the two dimensional arts - specifically digital art and animation - but I like to cook nonetheless. However, when I went to the St. John's Hospital cafeteria, I did not know what to expect. I guess I thought that maybe I would be cooking or just watching people cook the entire time. Truthfully, that is what I would have liked the most, seeing as though my evenings usually consist of watching the food network. When I arrived, they immediately made me put on a chef's jacket - which was rather exciting; I felt so important - and a hairnet. I was not too big of a fan of the hair net, considering it took me about half an hour to successfully get it to cover ALL of my hair, but I suppose I knew it was required. I kind of wanted a chefs hat.... Nonetheless, I got to follow around this man named Eric. He was very nice and he explained very well how he got into the field and what his job every day consists of. We made this simple yet tasty pasta from bowtie noodles, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, and broccoli. In fact, I had it for lunch that day. It was nice. Eric allowed me to prepare the dish with his careful guidance, and then dish it out to customers. It was an okay experience, but it was not lifechanging. After about an hour and a half of this, I was then taken to go work on an assortment of parfaits that they serve in the cafeteria. Anything from jello and whipped cream to pudding to fruit and yogurt - I made it. That was pretty fun, but I could not help but think it was rather boring. I also got to prepare other containers of snacks. After lunch, my main task was grueling, but it was actually pretty fun. "Make 150 sandwiches," they told me. Great. So they prepared one for me and I got to work. It took a really long time, but I am a master at making those sandwiches now. In the end, I had an okay time, but it was not anything I would choose for my full time career. I can definitely see it in my future as maybe a summer job or a parttime job of some sort, but I would not like to be stuck doing the same thing every day. It could have been the fact that it was a cafeteria and not a 5-star restaurant that brought down my experience, but its just not for me. I like to cook, but the repetitive nature made the experience not a 10/10 in my book. More like a 6-7/10.