As Exam 3 wrapped up (yep I’m half-way done with exams!) I have improved in so many ways. The first exam as some of you remember was a slight disaster, I ran out of time and out of ingredients costing me points. As I finished Exam 3 I can only be proud of myself. I was well within time and everything was done correctly (I did forget to season the potatoes but that’s a minor mistake that I caught a little too late – oops). I got my grade back and although it’s not as high as I imagined it would be – I’m still happy with it.
I think the expectations keep rising with each exam so it’s hard to know where the bar is set – but I like a good challenge, if it was easy everyone would do it. With that said, I was only 2 points away from the highest grade given – please wait as I pat myself on the back.
Exam 3 was the finale of Phase 1 of 3. Phew those first 18 weeks were long and short at the same time. Leaving work at 3:30 and then making the hour-long commute is becoming increasingly difficult as the weather starts to get warmer stays cold, gloomy and damp. But I still love it and the hours fly by once I’m there.
I was asked the other day has the luster of going back to school worn off? I thought, wow that’s a good question because I rarely have time to stop and reflect since I’m constantly moving throughout my days in a never-ending routine. So I paused and thought about the question. The answer is no. I love going to class, I love being there and learning new things and I am lucky enough to have great instructors and classmates. I have a love/hate relationship with the stress that comes with studying, report writing, project doing and tests… Yes, I am tired, and yes, I long for getting back into yoga and being home for dinner after work but I know that this is temporary and I wouldn’t change it.
So the first 18 weeks were about individual skills. The next 18 weeks will be about teamwork. We are set up in a more realistic restaurant-style practice. I’ll be paired each week with a different classmate as we are given a menu to divide and conquer together.
We’re now graded on time, accuracy and plating. Now there are “fire” times meaning we prepare our courses so that they can be completed 5 minutes before serving and then we wait until Chef J tells us it’s time for service. It’s all new to us and we are still working out the kinks but for the first night it was pretty successful. I will have to learn to let go of some control…
Together my partner and I made a vegetable & pesto soup appetizer and a duck breast entree (the duck came out a little rarer than one would like, but oh hey teamwork).
