First week of school

Hello all! 


Welcome to The Baking Ballerina! 


My intention for this blog is to document my journey through baking school and share it with friends and family. 


Blog #1--First week of school


I just completed my first week of baking school at the Institute of Culinary Education and I'm not going to lie, I am a bit overwhelmed. I knew that school wouldn't be a walk in the park, but I didn't necessarily realize how much went into it. We started the week by having lots of chefs talk to us about what it takes to become a success. While listening to them talk, I started to see just how many similarities there are between the baking world and the ballet world. I'll just start listing the ones I thought really stood out:


1. The key to success is perseverance. No matter how hard something is or how frustrated you are, you've just got to keep trying until you overcome it. 


2. You're going to be really bad at first. Unless you're just born a naturally talented and gifted person in either dance or baking, you're going to have to work at it.


3. Repetition is key. In ballet, each class is essentially the same. Not because we like to be boring, but so that you can assess how you're feeling that day and fix what was wrong yesterday. Same goes for baking--there are so many small details that you must do accurately every time, which can only happen through practice.


4. You've got to be a bit of a perfectionist. It just seems to go with the territory of both worlds--they both require a certain, almost scientific technique. Sure, there's a creative and artistic side to both baking and ballet, but there's also a set of specific rules that has to become second nature so that you can start to have fun with it.


5. You've got to have connections. This is probably one of the best/worst things about both worlds. If you've made a good impression on a few influential people, they can really open doors. And if you haven't, it makes it about 75x harder. My goal is to make some great connections in the baking world, and sooner rather than later.


6. You've got to take criticism and apply it to your work right away. In ballet, the director will give you a correction only once or twice and expect you to get it right the next time. If not, they'll move on to someone who can. Our chef said the same goes for baking. I've learned how to do this quickly in ballet, now I've just got to transfer that skill to my baking. 


That's about all I can recall at the moment--but I'm sure I'll be adding onto this list as time goes on. It gives me an extra boost of confidence to know that the new world I'm entering has direct connections to the world of dance I know so well.


I'm really excited for this new challenge and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me!