What Keeps Me Going.

In the Senior Humanities class called Endurance, we learned about visions and if they are worth pursuing. We learned about how people talk through their autobiographies. We learned about what we have to endure to we reach our dreams. We learned how to prepare for our journey as adults since my classmates and, I am going to be attending college this year and we will be on our own. We learned about our inner qualities and, how it helps us achieve our goals. We learned about how to plan for our future. This class helped us to grow as individuals we learned what is like to endure tough situations in school and outside of school. In the class endurance, we had a woman come in who used to run marathons. She told us about her training and her trials and tribulations. She told us about her past as runner in high school and how she continued to pursue her passion even when she left. For this Action Project, we wrote an autobiography about our life speaking as ourselves from 40 years in the future. I wrote about myself growing up in Stamford and then moving back to Chicago as the 9-year-old child till I entered college and eventually owned my restaurant chain.

AL

                                   

  The Love That Carried Me

                                                   

    Chapter 1: The Spark

                                                

                                                  AL, Food and Childhood (2018)

I was seven years old about to turn eight. My family and I had just moved from Ohio to Stamford, Connecticut. We had been living in Connecticut for a few months now. In Stamford, there is only one, the large mall with a movie theater. So EVERYONE goes to this, mall and I especially loved this mall. I especially loved the large red stairs that were in the middle of the mall. The same place where “Santa” came to visit and see the kids in Stamford. My father came to visit from Chicago and took me to go see a brand new movie called Ratatouille. My dad and I found the best seats far in the back, right in the center. This movie was the beginning to me starting my journey of interest of Culinary Arts.

 Little by little, I began to want to explore food and just making things. When I was 8 used to go to the bathroom and pretend like I was making some exquisite meal. This fantasy “meal” was just toothpaste or anything I could find in my bathroom at the moment. In real life, I would help my grandmother make small parts of dinner for Thanksgiving and Christmas meal. When I was 9 years old we moved back to Chicago because my mother’s sister died. Being a child I never understood why everyone was so sad. That was the first time I saw my brother cry, I told myself that I would make my family happy no matter what format it would be whether it was telling them jokes or making a few meals here and there. I learned to do little meals like spaghetti and chili from my grandmother and mother. The smell of chili powder and black pepper and salt mixed with onions and turkey meat would fill the house and my family and I would come together and sit and talk about our day and laugh at jokes that we told about people. My family became happier I was back in Chicago with all of my family together. 

The summer before my freshman year of high school, I went to a culinary camp, In at Kendall college. In this camp, I experienced many things from how to lead people in the kitchen to just knowing how to clean or prep my station for the meals I was going to cook. We wore a chef’s uniform from head to toe. I learned the basic knife cutting skills. I learned how to make stock from just leftover vegetable scraps. This camp taught me how to make the exact meal that was the name of the movie I saw when I was a young child--Ratatouille. We were taught how to cut vegetables this was a challenge. A lot of chefs have gotten their fingertips cut off from not paying attention to what they are doing. I had to learn to do the right technique and make sure I pay attention. 

Freshman year began and I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I was confused. I started to do things I never did. I would lie to my parents and go out with my friends instead of completing my work . I did this because I had been going through a deep depression that I was unaware of so instead of facing my problems I just went out with friends and did no work. I got to so distracted by my friends that I stopped caring about my grades and my future just so I could please my friends, in the end, I am not even friends with most of the kids I used to hang out with back then.

 I left my school 2 weeks before my 15 birthday. I was home schooled for what felt like a long time. I finally ended up going to a new school where I had to make new friends. This school brought new challenges into my life from dealing with my first love to maybe having senior prom. This school blossomed my love for culinary again after I took a culinary class my junior year of high school, we had a cooking contest we had to make tacos and salsa as well as guacamole. My best friend Ra and my friend Isaiah where in my group we called ourselves RIA. We made our tacos using turkey meat. I seasoned the turkey meat with black pepper and salt and let the spices feel the room with there spicy aroma making my classmates sneeze. and helped them season the guacamole and make the salsa. We ended up winning the contest I felt so proud. 

Junior and senior year had to be the hardest years mentally for me. I realized those years that it was better to keep to myself than risk telling people things that are emotional for me. Junior year was the start of my journey for looking colleges that would best fit me. I dreamed and dreamed of going back to New York to live. I wanted to attend college the only thing stopping me was my family and friends. I am the type of person to put people ahead of me and my needs. I made the decision to stay in Chicago one so that I could be with family and to because I was in love with one of my close friends, even though at the time I never really thought I could be cliche and fall in love. After high school I went to, Robert Morris University one of the top five culinary schools, for the two years of my college life I attended this school. I went to the culinary competitions. I tried my best and I did so many of these competitions. Each time I got better and better at what I was doing until I won the competitions. I made my way up the ladder until I was competing with CIA. The Culinary Institute of America. This college CIA is the most dreamed about school in most chef’s lives everyone wants to go there. I competed with them over and over again until I won. 

My mother was a med student in residency trying to become a doctor with two kids. She is my role model and always will be. She struggled so much and inspired me to never give up she went to class and even had side jobs and still had time to take care of me and my older brother. She worked 12-hour shifts and taught me how to read and write. She struggles with the same things school and her personal life. I couldn’t choose between hanging out with my friends and doing good in school. My mom had to choose between being around all the time and going and getting her job done. She was home when she needed to be and at school when she needed to be. I learned to do the same thing and got further in life. 

Those competitions are the reasons I am where I am now. I am a successful business owner. My restaurant is in more than 40 states and, it’s in parts of the United Kingdom and more. I even make food for the famous rap groups and clothing designers as well. I am married I have two kids and, they are going through the same things as I was back then. I remember those hard times being sad or stressed or really depressed and, I had so many people around me that wanted to help me get through it but I wouldn’t trust them. I became who I am because I worked hard and climbed the later to the top. I have had my hard times with my aunt dying to me moving away from friends and family and even heartbreak. Everyone has will go through those times. In the end, I made the choice to choose the right path and most of my dreams came true. I am soon going to retire and help find new types of fish and coral reefs. I have always loved the water since I was little. One of the only places I am completely comfortable in. I am free to do whatever I want and, I can spend my time and discover new things and make more friends as I go.

Helping The Students Or Torturing The Students

In the Senior STEAM classed called Systems and Models we learned about what psychology and why it matters. We learned about Maslow Hierarchy of needs this theory is made by Abraham Maslow it is a chart of needs that humans need. We talked about the needs of our community and how it connects to Maslow Hierarchy of needs as well. We talked about the Commons and what it is. Commons are a resource or a place of land that is shared by a community as well as affects the community as a whole. We learned about SWOT which means Strenght Weakness Opportunities and Threats. We used SWOT in our action projects to talk about the things that are good and bad about the topics we chose. For this Action Project, we were supposed to take a system in our school and talk about the good and the bad and ways to fix the system. We could choose whatever platform we wanted to use as a way to display our project. I chose to do my Action Project for Lunch study. I chose to choose the format of Prezi. The hardest part of making this project was using Prezi because they changed the format of the way you put your information. I learned eventually how to use the "New" version of Prezi. I had the difficult time trying to embed my Prezi into my blog but I eventually figured out a compromise with my teacher.

Citations:

Mcleod, Saul. “Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.” Simply Psychology, Simply Psychology.

N/A. “Tragedy of the Commons.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2018.

Tastemade, Inc, N A. “Highway Unicorn Cake ~ Recipe.” Tastemade

Al(GM),Interview, 2018

AL(NM), Interview, 2018

AL(SH),Interview,2018

AL(KB)Interview,2018

Malia Obama Grandaughter Of Former President Obama

In the second unit of the senior Humanities class called Equality. We learned about race, class, and gender. We talked about current events. For example, we talked about the recent school shootings as well as the different issues that we have or don’t have with President Trump. For this action project, we had to write an article and based on a civil rights issue. We also had to make a toy or product that goes with our article. I wrote my article about former president Barack Obama’s granddaughter becoming the president of the United States and fixing the different issues that people face. The product I chose to make was a youth serum that the Malia Obama takes to stay young throughout the years. The hardest part of this project was deciding what topic I wanted to choose and decide how I wanted to write it. Another challenge was trying to make a product that I could make a poster about and feature in my article as well.

Citations:
Ivanov , Savanah. “Potion Bottle.” Dribbble, 12 Nov. 2014.
Benner, Ken. “Cartoon Illustration of an Old Lady Holding a Coffee Mug.” IStock, 18 Jan. 2016.

Hypebeasts Do Experiments

In the senior STEAM class called Systems and Models. In the   second unit, we learned about how group form and function and the different types of groups. We learned about culture and identity how it relates and shapes a person. We learned about tools of observation and how they are used. For this Action Project, my partner LD and I conducted a case study whether or not fashion reflects an individuals identity. During this case study me and my partner had a difficult time trying to make time for us to conduct the interviews. We figured this out by just using our time at school during lunch to conduct the interviews and take photos. I enjoyed the most just getting to work with my partner since this is our last year at this school we got to make a fun and engaging project together.

The Premiere Of The Black Panther Movie

In the senior Humanities class called Equality, we learned about what equality is. We learned about the history of race and gender. We learned about the different classes that people are labeled according to their income. For example, We learned Upper-upper class, Upper middle class, and Upper lower class. We learned about sexism. We learned about feminism and the different people that call themselves feminist. For our FE, we went to see Black Panther the movie. This was really fun to see the movie it connected to our class. This movie was the first Marvel movie with a cast featuring mostly minorities and it was inspiring to people who are minorities, in telling them that they can also be heroes. This project was difficult because I am a person that can't focus very well, but it made it worth focusing on because this project is about a movie that I love a lot.

Diving Into The Ocean

For the senior STEAM class called Systems & Models, we learned about the different types of personality tests. For example, we learned about Myers Briggs - which is a personality test that you answer questions and based on the answers given from the questions you get one of the 16 personalities.  For this action project we made a self portrait that is supposed to describe us from a personality or psychological perspective. In this class we visited the Museum of Contemporary Art. We visited this museum to help us get ready to write our artist statements. I found that there was one piece, a sliver blanket and the artist had a long and detailed artist statement of why he chose to do this piece. I took inspiration from his artist statement when I wrote mine. The hardest part of making this project was that I made a collage and I needed magazines. We had no magazines at school and I have none at home. I fixed this problem by just printing out things that I liked and making the collage with the pictures I printed out. My favorite part was figuring out what I was going to do with my piece of fabric.

My piece is called "Diving in the Ocean". I named my piece this because the whole story was supposed to be me in a pool and slowly drowning and thinking of all the things that make me, me. My piece is 12” by 12” in a 14” by 14” square fabric. My forehead has pictures of my friends. I put pictures of my friends, because I am always thinking about my friends even before myself sometimes. I think that the fact that I think about others even though it doesn’t always have anything in it for me. Explains, why I am a Compromising according to the TKI Model Conflict Instrument -which is a test that determines how you would react in an argument in the workplace. I do agree with this I am usually compromising with people in arguments because I feel bad and don’t want to argue with people. I under the pictures of my friends I have my Normal eyebrows I didn’t change them, because they aren’t something I think about. The next part is my eyes. I put pictures of anime eyes and also stranger things. I put these two things because those are the two shows that I am usually watching with my mom or my friends.

I also took the color test. This test said that I was Orange. Orange meaning that I am dominant and a leader. I disagree with this because I would rather spend time being an introvert and watching anime by myself and I don't think I am very dominant either. which is what I wanted to express when I put the television shows. I wanted to express that these are important memories of me connecting with others. My cheeks are normal because they are something that I have always had a problem with since I was little and more as grew up. I don't have the perfect jawline and cheekbones that people want so much but I do have what I have and I accept that I am different from others. My mouth is also the same. I chose to not out anything for my mouth because my mouth is normal I use it to speak or I use it to not speak. I didn’t feel the need to change it. My ears have little heads of musicians. I have drake and Asap Rocky. I love Drake and asap rocky. I put them in my ears because that is who I am usually listening to when it comes to music choice or like Tyler the creator.

The purpose of my piece was to show who I am as a person even though I change in situations that don't mean that I am being fake or that I am not being myself It is just me showing a different side of me to people that I am comfortable with. The DISC says that I am Supportive and Inspiring meaning that I am helpful, sensitive, kind and friendly. This test says that I am people orientated and that I like to avoid conflict. I agree with this test. Like the TKI states, I like to compromise instead of arguing because I don't want to argue with people that I care about or don't know. The Myers Brigs and another test. This test told me that I am Entertainer or ESFP. The test says that when their friends are upset they show empathy and sympathy and when there is the crisis we adapt. The tests show the different sides of me that I don't always want to show to others. I think that they are a cool and fun way to find out about people.

Al "Diving into the ocean"(2018)

Mystic And Beyond

In the STEAM class called Rocket Science, we learned about the Space Race. We learned about how to design and do a mission into space. In this class, we went to the Museum of  Science and Industry. We got to look at the different space ships. We saw the Gemini and Apollo missions and even flying plans and carrying out missions for space on a fun game in the museum. For this Action Project , we were given 1 million dollar budget to make a rocket and launch the rocket. We had mini missions that prepared for the final project in the end. During class, I can never focus on my work because when I go home I can't get it all done for in one sitting. I just found out that if I can be alone in class I can do so much more work. This was a really fun experience and I would do it all over again.