3. Dedication Page
1. Mom
2. Dad
3. My Brother Jake
4. Mimi
5. Papa
6. Grandma
7. Grammy
8. Grandpa Charles
9. Maddy
10. Journey
11. Katie
12. Hannah O
13. Emma T
14. Isabelle
15. Sam T
16. Hannah
17. Joshua
18. Hannah
19. Sam
20. Emma
21. Auntie Kristen and Uncle Bill
22. Uncle Rodger and Aunt Alexis
23. Aunt Sarie and Uncle Andrew
24. Aunt Kady and Uncle Brian
25. Mr. Gibbs
4. Table of Contents
Chapter 1:.........................................................................................................................................5
My Career Dreams...........................................................................................................................
Chapter 2:.........................................................................................................................................8
Family Aspirations……………………………………………………………………………………….
Chapter 3:.......................................................................................................................................10
Traveling the World.........................................................................................................................
Chapter 4:.......................................................................................................................................12
Future Home ...................................................................................................................................
Chapter 5:.......................................................................................................................................14
Making a Difference ........................................................................................................................
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Beach
Figure 2: Life
Figure 3: Life
Figure 4: Baking
Figure 5: Cookbook
Figure 6: Specialty Cake
Figure 7: Money
Figure 8: Bakery Truck
Figure 9: Career Goals
Figure 10: Cupcakes
Figure 11: Family
Figure 12: Family Blocks
Figure 13: Friends Holding Hands
Figure 14: Baby with Dog
Figure 15: Airplane
Figure 16: Europe Travel Attractions
Figure 17: African Safari
Figure 18: French Riviera
Figure 19: Benicia
Figure 20: San Francisco
Figure 21: Pebble Beach
Figure 22: Shelter Animals
Figure 23: Peace Corp Logo
5. Introduction
This is just a little peek into what my life might come to be. It entails things from jobs to travel
and everything in between. So, this is how I am going to cultivate my garden.
Figure 1: Beach
Figure 2: Life Figure 3: Life
6. Chapter 1:
My Career Dreams
I believe that a good career that you
enjoy is very important in life because if you
end up doing something with your life that
doesn't make you happy then it can very
easily add unneeded stress. Although it’s
good to have an idea of what you want to do
when you are older I don't think that what
you want to do now
should be set in
stone. You want to
find things that you
are good at and try
pursuing different
things. Everyone
knows that you want
to have a career that
will pay the bills
when you’re older,
but saying is a lot
easier than doing.
Therefore,
sometimes it is a
long road to get to
where you want to be.
That being said, it brings me to my
next question. What career am I going to
pursue? Well one thing that I have enjoyed
since I was little and am fairly good at is
baking and cooking. My dream is to one day
open up my own bakery. Being a baker
requires vast knowledge of the basics of
baking but also knowing how to use the
tools with it. Some
specific things that
you need to know
how to do are how to
properly place dough
in pans, molds, or on
sheets, and bake in
production ovens or
on grills, be a good
problem solver, and
even know how to
make your own recipes. Reaching my goal
of my own bakery will take some work but
the journey starts now. The first thing I can
do to boost myself to my goal is taking
electives in school that will help me with my
ideal career. Obviously I would like to take
the culinary arts class, but I also want to take
consumer math.
Consumer math will
help me get
experience in the
business side of
owning a bakery. In
addition to electives,
I believe outside
classes for the
summer would be
beneficial as well. I
could always take an
online course with
Le Cordon Bleu to
teach me the
knowledge of baking
but, unfortunately, without the benefits of
hands on learning. Also there is a bakery in
Walnut Creek called the Petite Cupcake and
they do classes and camps in the actual
bakery.
Even before college I want to get
experience in a bakery or restaurant
atmosphere. To do this I want to get a part
time job at a nearby bakery like Rosanna's
European Delights or even
at a restaurant like First
Street Cafe. Even though
the job probably won't be
in the kitchen, it will let
me see what it takes run
your own food business.
In addition, I might be
able to get an
apprenticeship at a bakery
in the bay area, so I can
Figure 4: Baking
Figure 5: Cook Book
7. get some one on one instruction and
experience in the workforce. Another thing
that could greatly help me in
experience side, is just
continue to bake on a regular
basis. I don't necessarily need
to take a class to get better. I
just need to continue
practicing the skills needed
for the job, like getting more
comfortable with preparing
baked goods in a timely
fashion, and it will help me
out in the long run. Also
some job skills are knowing
how to make and design your
own recipes. If I start making
my own recipe book with my
original recipes it will give
me a head start. On top of the
experience side I also could be practicing
some skills it would take to run a bakery or
business. First of all I could try going
grocery shopping and getting the lowest
prices, learning how to do taxes, and even
about how to price a menu.
Once high school is over, it is on to
college. Since my goal is to open up my own
bakery, I think business is very important.
Therefore I want to go to business school
first thing out of high school. Ideally I was
hoping to get an academic scholarship to a
very good college. My dream college would
be Stanford University or UCLA. I want to
go through a MBA program and learn how
to run a business. While in business school I
want to get another part time job at a bakery
nearby my college. Once business school is
done, I want to continue my bakery job and
go to a culinary school. My culinary school
of choice is the Arts Institute of California.
There, I will get professional knowledge and
more hands on experience of baking to
compliment my business knowledge.
Out of college, I have to start my
actual career. It probably will take me a little
bit to have enough money to open up my
bakery, so I have to start at an entry level
position first. The salary for an
entry level baking job is
around $30,000 a year and a
median of $10.00 an hour. The
good thing about baking career
is that you can climb the ranks
pretty easily. Once I have
enough money to where I feel
comfortable to start my
business, I might cut my shifts
down so I can focus on
starting the business before I
jump all in. The first step to
starting the business is to find
the startup cost. This includes
the price of the bakery area,
appliances, supplies, and
anything else that you will
need to spend money on. Also defining what
kind of bakery you want to have. There are
online bakeries, specialized bakeries, sit
down bakeries, counter bakeries, and more.
For my bakery, I want to have a mixture
between a counter bakery where you pick
your food from the front counter and leave,
and a sit down bakery where you stay and
eat your pastries there. To do that I am going
to need a larger commercial space. When
opening the bakery, there are a few things I
am going to have to do to make it a success
and not a flop. First off, you have to have
advertising and marketing. If no one knows
how scrumptious your baked goods are then
your bakery will never get off the ground.
Figure 6: Specialty Cake
8. Also opening a bakery will put a
strain on my check book for a little while, so
I need to know how to manage my money
and make the most
profit possible. At
first I am just
going to go solo
and not have any
employees, but
once the business
starts picking up I
will likely hire some people. I think another
way to have more customers is to make my
bakery have a good atmosphere and be
different from the rest. A cute idea is to get
food trucks to sell my baked goods from.
That way I can cater for large groups at
more casual affairs. Another way to get high
profits is to cater for weddings and make
large specialty cakes. Specialty cakes can go
anywhere from $400 to $1200!
The location of my bakery can also
make a big impact on my profits and
success. My dream location is to have a
bakery in San Francisco. The location helps
me cater to what customers I am going to
have. In San Francisco there are a lot of
people just visiting and higher end
customers that are willing to pay more.
With tourists, people will drop in and try
my baked goods
just to try and
get a good
experience. The
tourists will try
things and tell
their friends
who aren't local.
This way the
tourists that
came once will
keep coming
because we are
the only bakery
that they know of. That will overall help my
profits.
If for some reason my bakery doesn't
work out, with my college degrees I can still
have successful life. Since I hope to have a
degree in business I could very easily purse
anything in the business realm. Also I could
work at another bakery and climb the ranks
until I get to the top. Hopefully with good
preparation and experience I won't have to
do that, and I can live out my dream of
owning my own bakery. I mean, who doesn't
want to live out their dream career?
Practice Experience Career
Figure 7: Money
Figure 8: Bakery Truck
Figure 9: Career Goals
Figure 10: Cupcakes
9. Chapter 2:
Family Aspirations
After I have my dream career, the next step
would be to have a family. All families
come in different shapes and sizes, and you
can’t plan ahead for who your family is
going to be. But with that being said, it
doesn’t
mean
that you
can’t
imagine
what
your
family
might be
like,
even if
what
really
comes
about is
the
complete
opposite.
What I
imagine
as my
future family is
having a
husband and
two kids. Also I
would make
sure to stay
super close with
all of my family
that I already
have.
I always
thought it would
be so cool to
have twins
when I’m older.
In the US about one in 30 babies born are
twins. Also I would want to have one girl
and one boy. The average expenses for just
one child is anywhere from $12,800 to
$14,970 a year. Therefore my future
husband and I are going to have to make
sure to watch our finances to make sure we
have
enough
money.
Another
thing
that I
might to
is even
adopt
children.
There
are so
many
kids just
in
America
that
don’t
even
have a
family to
call their own. In
the US there are
about 397,122
children who are
orphans and around
the entire world
there are about 153
million orphans.
Adopted or not, a
long time from now
I hope to have a
family like this to
call my own.
Something
else that is really
important to me is to have pets. When I’m
older I want to have a dog and a cat just like
Figure 11: Family
Figure 12: Family Blocks
10. I do now. Pets can also be very expensive.
For their first year, a dog care costs average
out to be $1,843 and cats are at about
$1,035. I would personally want a Labrador
because they are very sweet and love to play
or be active. Also Labs are the number one
most popular breed in America in 2013. As
for a cat, I am honestly fine with any breed
as long as they are fond of people.
One last
thing that I think
fits into the family
category is your
friends. I consider
my friends as my
family and I always
will. As I grow up I
hope to make some
new friends through
my college, my
career, my family,
and really anywhere
else. Even though I
want to make new
friends throughout
my entire life I think it’s really important to
stay in touch with the friends you grew up
with because they are some of people who
helped you discover who you really are.
When we all part our separate ways I want
to still be able to call them my best friends
because, honestly, I don't know what I
would do without them. With hundreds of
miles away that could be hard but as long as
I make time to go see them, call them, and
make them still a part of my life, then it will
be a piece of cake. 1 in 4 adults are still best
friends with their
grade school best
friend, and I think I
can easily be that
one in four.
Family is
truly forever, and in
the end the only
thing that matters.
Although
materialistic things
might sometimes
take over, the
support from loved
ones is the only
thing that you know
for a fact you can count on. This is why I
think that your family, even a pet, is really
the key to a happy life.
Figure 13: Friends Holding Hands
Figure 14: Baby With Dog
11. Chapter 3:
Traveling the World
One thing that I want to do is travel the
world and immerse myself in different
cultures as I grow up. I think that traveling
isn't just about sightseeing, it’s about
discovering how different people live their
lives and what the “normal” is for them. The
places that I want to travel range from
Alaska all the
way to Africa.
One of
the areas that I
want to travel
the most is in
Europe. My
grandpa was a
pilot, so my
dad was able to
travel different
places when he
was younger
and he always
talks about how
he would love
to go back and
travel all through Europe. One place that I
would like to travel there is Rome. It is said
that you can’t see everything that you want
to see in just one trip. Rome has lots of art,
Italian cuisine and the Coliseum which is
one of the new Seven Wonders of the
World. Since Rome is in Italy, the city is
covered in pasta, pasta, and just a little more
pasta. Any Italian city you go to you are sure
to find a great amount of authentic,
magnificent, handmade Italian food every
direction you look. Another place is the
French Riviera, which is known for its many
beaches and billion dollar buildings. The
French Riviera also has one of the oldest and
most prestigious film festivals. Along with
the festival, this city is known for being very
rich, and many celebrities can be seen there.
Also Florence is another beautiful place full
of art, architecture, cuisine, and history.
Florence has one architectural beauty called
the Cuomo or Santa Maria Del Fiore that is
one of the largest churches in the world! Its
name means Virgin of the Flower referring
to the lily, which is the symbol for Florence.
This mega church
built by Emilio De
Fabric was started
in 1296 and didn’t
get finished until
1884. Art is very
big in Florence
and fortunately
there is a national
policy that minors
get into these
pricy, historic
galleries for free.
Other
places that are
very popular to
travel to in Europe
are Budapest, Prague, and Barcelona. Also if
I end up persuading baking then I should
definitely travel to places like Paris. Paris,
France is known for its French desserts
which are well liked around the world. It
ranges from macaroons to crème Brule plus
much, much more in this dessert ridden
cuisine. Lots of French pastries, like éclairs,
use a dough called pate o choux and I could
expand my learning in that subject and all
French desserts if I travel there.
Another place I want to travel is
Alaska. I enjoy going fishing and have done
it since I was little so I think it would be
really cool to go on a fishing trip to Alaska.
To me Alaska is a really cool place just
because of all the adventure and wildlife.
Lastly, I would really like to go to South
Figure 15: Airplane
12. Africa and go on an African safari. For my
safari I would want to go to Kenya. For a
custom, luxurious safari it starts at $5,000 a
night, per person. I think Africa would also
be a good place to do some charity work in
places where people need help the most.
Hopefully I will be able to travel to
at least some of these places as I grow up.
Traveling can be very expensive hard to do.
Therefore traveling is really a privilege
because some people don't ever get to
experience the joy of going somewhere new.
Figure 16: Europe Travel Attractions
Figure 17: African Safari
Figure 18: French Riviera
13. Chapter 4:
Future Home
Picking where you want to live when you
grow up entails a few things. You have to
decide on if you if you want to live in
another state, the city, a farm, and so on and
so forth. Picking where you want to live is
kind of like picking what kind of cupcake
you want to eat, metaphorically speaking.
Do you want to live somewhere simpler like
a light, fluffy vanilla cupcake or live
somewhere more luxurious like a rich,
creamy chocolate cupcake? So when you
think of where you see yourself living, you
just have to think chocolate or vanilla?
For me I would personally see
myself living in the suburbs and not in the
city. I don’t think I could handle all the
business going on. Also I would like to
continue living in California when I’m older
as well. One thing that is important to me is
living near water. Going to the beach or
waterside is something I have grown up with
and I don’t think I could ever be able to live
in a completely landlocked state.
Another thing to consider when
picking where I want to live is what would
be a good place to open up a bakery. I think
I want to start my business locally first, so I
would probably live in Benicia for a little
while. Benicia was on the top 50 safest cities
list, and has some great schools. Therefore, I
might raise my family here or before I start
my family move somewhere new. I would
like to try to move to San Francisco at one
point. Sometimes San Francisco can be
sketchy, so you have to find family friendly,
safe neighborhoods. Some of those
neighborhoods include One Valley, The
Marinas, Upper sunset, and so on. Another
nice neighborhood that is out of the city is
Presidio Heights. That particular
neighborhood can be very pricy and at this
time the average cost for a house is around
$1.7 million dollars! So moving to that
historical neighborhood is probably a long
shot.
My actual home itself should be an
actual house and not an apartment. Starting
out an apartment is totally fine, but when I
have a family I would definitely need a
house with a large backyard. In my house I
would want it to have a cozy but nice feel to
it. I wouldn't want one of those modern
houses where there is not a speck of carpet
and everything just feels kind of cold. I
almost want my future home to feel like a
warm hug! I would have an abundance of
Figure 19: Benicia
Figure 20: San Francisco
14. flowers planted to give it a cheery look. In
addition I would make my kitchen and
family room the vocal highlight of the
house, because those are the rooms that tend
to be used the most.
My final destination, and the place I
want to spend my life after all of my kids
have left would be Pebble Beach. Pebble
Beach is also very pricey at around $663 per
square foot. My goal is to be able to make it
big in the baking department. I want to have
my own show on Food Network someday,
and have many bestselling cookbooks. If I
am able to even accomplish half of this, then
maybe I will be able to live out my life in
these places.
Figure 21: Pebble Beach
15. Chapter 5:
Making a Difference
As I grow up I want to add something to my
life that I can use all the time. I want to
make a big difference in the world in a big
way. I love to help other people, but I
probably don't do as much of it as I would
like. There are some charities that I want to
help in and, who knows, I might even start
my own organization.
The first thing I want to help in is
animal shelters. Each year about 2.7 million
animals are euthanized at animal shelters
each year. Since I was little I always loved
animals, but didn’t even realize that this was
even happening. I mean why innocent
animals should have to be killed just
because humans won't take responsibility.
Since animal shelters are non-profit, they
don't get money to help take care of the
animals. If shelters had more donations, then
they would be able to house the animals
longer and find them their perfect homes. So
as I grow up I want to raise awareness to this
and help raise money for the cause.
Another thing I want to support as I
grow up is helping those with mental
disabilities. Both in school and everyday
life, you see people with these disabilities
and you can’t help but feel bad for them.
Some people will make fun of them or tease
them for their disability, and they will
overlook their good qualities as a person. So
when I am older, I want to volunteer with
people with mental disabilities and help
them to live a normal life.
Figure 23: Peace Corp Logo
One thing that I think would be cool to do is
join the Peace Corps. I think by becoming a
volunteer in this organization I will be able
to be enriched with others cultures and help
those desperately in need. Also, another
charity that I want to help is any charities
that have to do with health. My family has
seen cancer in previous generations and I
think that the only way to find a cure is to
have to have the most amount of supporters.
I feel like some life-long or life threatening
diseases are often overlooked. Some
diseases don't get as much support as others
do even when the outcome could lead to
death. So one thing I want to help do is raise
awareness to all sickness and diseases and
help find a cure to all of them as well.
I talked about giving back because I
think it is really important. It’s not just
important for the ones you're helping, but it
is also important to you. As people say, “A
life without giving, isn’t a life at all”. So in
other words in order to cultivate your
garden, you have to cultivate others as well.
Figure 22: Shelter Animals
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