I had my first official day of class for my graduate program today. Sadly, today is not my first last day of class, but I wish it was…I’m not sure why I decided to go back to school…it’s such a strange feeling to be back in a classroom again. I’m currently sitting in a class called Food Product and Development. I’m surrounded by students, all that look like they loathe school, yet I left for 1½ years and just voluntarily came back.
Anyways, this class is structured to where we are divided into groups and then as a team we have to create a whole ass food product. And I mean a whole product, starting from an idea for a brand-new food item that’s never been seen on a shelf. The idea itself is the easy part, after that we actually have to make the product in a kitchen, followed by: doing all the food safety protocol, researching the demand/demographic, as well as marketing and making a business for the damn thing….all components to which I have no prior knowledge. It feels as if I’m wasting a semester creating a product that won’t even come to fruition.
Okay, okay…I know that I am being a bit of a negative nellie, but you see I come from a microbiology background. Nowhere in the history of my education have I ever taken a culinary or business class. The most I know is food safety which only makes up a marginal amount of my education. Therefore, to say I have no clue how I will be able to do this class is an understatement. I don’t even know where to start and I feel poorly for my peers. (I may have to be the runt)
The funny thing about this whole situation is that I’ve never even taken a Food Science class in my entire life, but guess what my Master’s is in…DING DING DING!!! FOOD SCIENCE & NUTRITION! Oh the irony…I even get to be a teaching assistant (TA) this semester for Food Science 101 and I, Yuka Kawata, will be helping students with a course I’ve never taken. Luckily, I am a person who believes in asking stupid questions, but I feel as if the TA should not be the one asking those questions…that wouldn’t instill me with a lot of faith if I was a student.
Imagine being a freshman taking their first course in college. Then asking the TA a question and they tell you that they’ve never even taken the course before. Hell…that would make me rethink the reasons I decided to go to that school, but hey, maybe they’ll feel better if I’m clueless as they are. I mean look at me, I still made it to graduate school.
Sometimes we don’t know how we end up where we are, just like I don’t know exactly how I ended up as a Food Science TA, but life’s funny that way.