I wanted to be a chef going into High School. After 4 years of basic classes and messing up everything I touched in the kitchen, I went to my local community college, Delaware Tech, where I got my associates in Culinary. I wasn't done with my love of food, so I continued my education and just a week ago yesterday I graduated the University of Delaware with a Bachelors in Applied Nutrition.
I have worked for the Rodney Dining Hall at the University of Delaware since October 2009 until less than a month ago, with a yearlong stint as a line cook in a local bar grill. That's 6 years of food service experience, including 2 years of training, and my last 2 and a half years as a Student Manager.
Day 1 (Monday the 1st)
When I first arrived at Yale, my first thought was "Oh wow, look at all the Castles, this feels like Hogwarts."
Puny Muggle This is where dueling club meets.
The campus was gorgeous and huge, a week later and I'm still trying to get my bearings. After moving in and saying bye to my brother who dropped me off, I began getting ready for my first day (Ironing all my dress clothes).
Day 2 (Tuesday the 2nd)
The first day started with me meeting my cohort for the next 2 months, Riley Maynard. We walked to the Dining hall for breakfast and I promptly nerded out over everything: they had things set up like this, we didn't have these back home, OMG ARE THOSE WOKS THEY ARE HUGE, OH WOW THAT'S A PIZZA OVEN!
Shortly after breakfast, we walked to our office (5 minutes away from the dorm castle we live in) and are introduced to Veronica, our boss/ handler. She's the one who organizes our intern day-to-day activities, and she promptly shows us off to everyone on the floor. The names and the faces didn't stick too well at first, but I hope to get better with them. We got started on our first tasks at OUR OWN OFFICE:
I was surprised to find that we had our own setup in office when there were actual people upstairs in cubicles. I guess it will be OK because we'll only be here a short time.
After starting us on the computer work we were doing to help their system, we were whisked away to drive half an hour north to a Food Show from one of their vendors, FreshPoint.
This was really interesting to go up to that level to see where food comes from before it arrives on campus. There was so much fresh produce and different things to try, it was amazing.
What a heck of a first day!
Day 3&4 (Wednesday the 3rd, Thursday the 4th)
Wednesday was spent finishing up the project from the first day and meeting with more members of staff of Yale Dining and learning more about these guys. We took a walk to the CSC (Culinary Support Center) which is like a huge satellite kitchen that the campus uses for its cold prep and Catering. The guy running it is this awesome Irish dude that I hope to work with more in the coming weeks. Thursday we started the second project, a much more intensive one that may take another few days to complete, even with both me and Riley. No fun pictures of these days, but I do want to take more of the CSC because the place is awesome.
Day 5 (Friday the 5th)
Friday, which was originally planned to be a day to help prep for a wedding on Saturday became another office day. There was a guest who I'm not sure if I'm allowed to disclose the identity of, but as a result we needed special security clearance that was not granted to us Interns. In any case, we did get to enjoy Yale Staff Appreciation Day, an event that took place in the middle of campus with lots of interesting snackfoods, ranging from mini-meatballs to fancy quinoa salads.
Overall, an immense first week for an immense school. I can't wait to sink my teeth further into this internship.
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