Cultivate My Garden

Mr. Gibbs

Dedication PageLife is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.-Confucius

1.

2. Mom3. Dad4. My Brother Jake5. Mimi6. Papa7. Grandma 8. Grammy9. Grandpa Charles10. Maddy11. Journey12. Katie13. Hannah O14. Emma T 15. Isabelle16. Sam T17. Hannah18. Joshua19. Hannah20. Sam21. Emma22. Auntie Kristen and Uncle Bill23. Uncle Rodger and Aunt Alexis24. Aunt Sarie and Uncle Andrew25. Aunt Kady and Uncle Brian26. Mr. Gibbs

Table of ContentsChapter 1:5My Career DreamsChapter 2:8 Family Aspirations.Chapter 3:10Traveling the WorldChapter 4:12Future HomeChapter 5:14Making a Difference

Table of FiguresFigure 1: BeachFigure 2: LifeFigure 3: LifeFigure 4: BakingFigure 5: CookbookFigure 6: Specialty CakeFigure 7: MoneyFigure 8: Bakery TruckFigure 9: Career GoalsFigure 10: CupcakesFigure 11: FamilyFigure 12: Family BlocksFigure 13: Friends Holding HandsFigure 14: Baby with DogFigure 15: AirplaneFigure 16: Europe Travel AttractionsFigure 17: African SafariFigure 18: French RivieraFigure 19: BeniciaFigure 20: San FranciscoFigure 21: Pebble BeachFigure 22: Shelter AnimalsFigure 23: Peace Corp Logo

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 3: LifeFigure 2: Life

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 its 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 youre older, but saying is a lot easier than doing. Therefore, sometimes it is a long road to get to where you want to be. Figure 4: Baking

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. Figure 5: Cook Book

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 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. Figure 6: Specialty Cake

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. 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! Figure 7: MoneyFigure 8: Bakery Truck

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?

Figure 9: Career Goals

Figure 10: Cupcakes

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 cant plan ahead for who your family is going to be. But with that being said, it doesnt mean that you cant 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.Figure 12: Family BlocksFigure 11: Family

I always thought it would be so cool to have twins when Im 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 dont 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 Im older I want to have a dog and a cat just like 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 its 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.Figure 13: Friends Holding Hands

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.

Chapter 3: Figure 14: Baby With Dog

Traveling the WorldOne 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, its 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.Figure 15: Airplane

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 cant 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 didnt 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 crme Brule plus much, much more in this dessert ridden cuisine. Lots of French pastries, like clairs, 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 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 17: African SafariFigure 18: French RivieraFigure 16: Europe Travel Attractions

Chapter 4: Future HomePicking 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? Figure 20: San Francisco

For me I would personally see myself living in the suburbs and not in the city. I dont think I could handle all the business going on. Also I would like to continue living in California when Im 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 dont 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.Figure 19: Benicia

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 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

Chapter 5: Making a DifferenceAs 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 didnt 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 cant 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 22: Shelter Animals

Figure 23: Peace Corp LogoOne 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. Its not just important for the ones you're helping, but it is also important to you. As people say, A life without giving, isnt a life at all. So in other words in order to cultivate your garden, you have to cultivate others as well. Bibliography

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