The Search for Food, And How I Found It
一个简单的问题：“那你长大后想成为什么？”只要我们记得，就已经笼罩在我们的头上了，我敢肯定，我们大多数人都记得我们的第一个答案。我知道我的是兽医，“所以我可以和幼犬一起玩，”但是，一旦我意识到我需要在兽医学校剖析动物，就很快就会杀死那个梦。（惊恐的事件！）
And like most questions, the answers became harder to find as years passed and we realized how manyoptionsthere are in the world. Doctor, teacher, fireman soon grew up – for Babson students especially – to Marketing Director, Chief Operations Officer, Asset Management Analyst and all the other crazy job titles we had no clue about just a few years prior.
最重要的是，好像职业探索还不够困难，对于一些巴布森学生来说，弄清楚他们的疑虑可能是一个挑战beplay官网体育actuallywant to do when everyone else is either rising the ranks of the corporate world or getting funded for their first start-up. It’s true that business is a very broad field, but that doesn’t stop the occasional feeling of being stuck when you’re not a finance, accounting or entrepreneur geek.
During high school, my two loves were restaurants and journalism; two fields that are known to be barren of profit. But within my Senior Fall scramble when society decides it’s time for an 18-year-old to decide their future, my logic told me that within journalism I could be a writer, Editor-in-Chief, broadcaster, “sky’s the limit” and all that, while restaurants just meant being a penniless restaurant owner. But holy focaccia, was I wrong.
Fast forward to my arrival at Babson with the steady notion to concentrate in Marketing so I could have that shiny PR/Marketing background so many media companies desired. But what’s this, Food Sol? A food entrepreneur action tank within The Lewis Institute? Of course I’m staying loyal to my journalism dream, but hey I could just give it a peek…
And from there my career path shifted entirely! I discovered that the food service industry was challenging, diverse and ever-changing, especially with the emergence of fast-casual and quick-service models. I found a community of people so passionate, life-loving and乐趣while still caring the most out of anyone. I uncovered a plethora of job opportunities and corners of the field that were begging for talent.I was hooked.
在每周出勤和与Food Sol的导演Rachel Greenberger建立萌芽关系之后，我接受了剑桥一家餐厅咨询公司的实习RealFood Consultingin which the Director of Operations is a Babson alumnus, Peter Venti ’16. There I learned all the different job descriptions for the restaurant world (“What?! There are restaurant architects, and restaurant lawyers?!”) which only catalyzed my hunger even more.
Returning to Babson for my sophomore year I gabbed away to my peers about my summer internship and love for the hospitality industry, and some thoughtful soul – I still can’t remember who it was, so if you’re reading this, THANK YOU! – told me to connect with another Babson alumnus, Chris Quach ’15, who works as a line cook at Untitled at The Whitney, one of the fifteen restaurant concepts by Union Square Hospitality Group. I spoke to him, he told me about the USHG summer intern program, and soon enough I was running food and completing manager trails at USHG’s Blue Smoke & Jazz Standard this June and July!
Now, these past two paragraphs were not meant to be aimless name-dropping. They were meant to be有目的的name-dropping. Meaning, I really want to highlight that for those times in which it feels like Babson and business in general is just not for you, do not give up! More often than not, those creative or abstract interests of yours already exist within Babson, you just have to find them! My past two internships were not listed on Handshake or CareerCenter, they were found by my own networking and pure curiosity. Although it may not be the easiest route, it is entirely doable to take the first step and hustle to find those connections to boost you into the industry.
I suggest searching through Babson’s alumni directories, googling job titles in industry articles, roaming LinkedIn’s search results for Babson alumni, attending random lectures or events that relate to a career field you may be interested in, and above all having the courage to keep exploring! Respect yourself enough to really fight for what you want, because in the end you owe it to yourself to answer your childhood question: “So what do I want to be when I grow up?”