Peyton Boggs is a 19-year-old high school student who has chosen to cater an African meal for a fundraising banquet to help children in Africa suffering from poverty as her senior project. She will cook and serve two African dishes: Moroccan steak with sweet potatoes and Tanzanian baked bananas. While creating the dishes, Peyton overcame obstacles like not having the right ingredients for the first dish and overcooking the second dish. Through completing this challenging project, Peyton learned that her patience and love can increase when helping others, and she enjoys interacting with people more than she used to. Although she loves cooking, Peyton does not think she will pursue it as a career.

1. 423 Howell Crossing
Canton, GA
April 19, 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
Dear Judges:
Hello, my name is Peyton Boggs. I am 19 years old and I am looking forward to showing
each of you my creativity, love and care that has gone into my Senior Project. Ever since
I was a little girl, I imagined myself not ever deciding what I wanted to do when I got
older, or being late in what I chose to study for my career. One day, I had a traumatic
experience that would have an effect on me for the rest of my life; parents divorcing. As I
watched my parents fight and tears flowing from their eyes I realized that I wanted to
help them, help humanity in counseling and comfort them. As I got older, I watched more
and more scenarios occur of people’s lives getting overtaken by drugs, alcohol, abuse,
abandonment, and even becoming mentally ill from it all. Through these witnesses, I
have decided on helping people get through their rough times and hopefully making it
possible for them to start over as a new person. For my Senior Project I have decided to
cater an African meal for a fundraising banquet that is raising money to help change the
lives of the children in Africa suffering from poverty.
My product is the African dishes; Moroccan steak with sweet potatoes and Tanzanian
baked bananas I will actually be cooking and serving for the people of the banquet. In
this, it comes in relation to my Research Paper because it expresses and defines the
struggles along with strengths of poverty. Throughout the process of this project there
were some obstacles that I had to get through. One, was in the first dish, the Moroccan
steak, I did not have the right ingredients. I quickly went to the store and bought the right
ingredients and used them to complete the first dish. The second obstacle is in the second
dish, Tanzanian baked bananas. I misread the directions and overcooked the food. After
getting constantly frustrated with this dish I began to experiment a little and came up with
a better solution or product. The problems that I encountered during the creation of my
product made me think I would never get through it and be able to create the right meal
for the banquet, especially if it involved African spices and ingredients. But I found
myself overcoming the delays and finishing the meal as I planned to and in the way I had
wanted it done.
Catering is a hobby that I find myself enjoying a lot. People start their own catering
businesses and create new foods to show off to banquets, weddings, ceremonies, etc.

2. What I learned about myself throughout this entire project is that the level of my love and
patience can be increased as long as I am doing something for someone else and know
that it could potentially change their lives and their futures. I also found that I love to be
involved and interact with others. Before I did this project I hated to be around people
and talk to them just because I thought they were not worth my time, but by catering to
these people of the banquet and talking to them about where they have come from and
how they can relate to the children in Africa, it has made me appreciate the human race a
little more. Even though I absolutely love to cook and have been doing it ever since I was
a little girl, I do not think I will pursue this as my career for the future. I do, however
believe that this can get my foot in the door to a career that I decide to pursue later on in
life.
This project in itself was an excellent experience for me to have. Yes there were a lot of
things in the Senior Project that I really hated, but it gave me an opportunity to express
myself and stick things out. It also made me work harder than just giving up on what I
had started. I am hoping that this experience will be a source for my succession in my
future goals and achievements I will have in the future.
Sincerely,
Your signature
Peyton Boggs