Cooking Up an Extracurricular by Julissa

Cooking Up an Extracurricular by Julissa - September 2019 Scholarship Essay

If I had the opportunity to create a high school extracurricular, I would create a cooking club. Although some schools may have them, it is still a relatively unorthodox activity in most schools due to its logistics and costs. This is a shame because cooking is an invaluable skill applicable to our daily lives. We as humans need to eat to survive, and if we don’t know how to cook or choose ingredients for our meals, we are at a disadvantage because we must depend on paying for someone else to cook for us (i.e. fast food, restaurants, processed food). Of course, it is pretty unreasonable to not depend on others once in a while for our meals. It is still helpful, however, to know what you are putting in your body and to have the ability to support yourself when it comes to food for the rest of your life.

A cooking club has many benefits. Of course, for one, it would provide an opportunity to learn cooking skills like the different cutting, baking, or preserving techniques. Not knowing these skills is one factor why many people aren’t able to cook or eat home cooked meals. I’m fortunate enough to be able to learn some recipes from my parents, but without them I would likely not have learned how to cook at all even after finishing high school. A cooking club would provide many students a resource outside of their families to learn these skills.

Another benefit is the collaboration between those in the club. The club would emphasize the teamwork that needs to go into the finished product, because cooking in most kitchens usually does involve cooking with multiple people, whether that is in a professional setting or cooking with family or roommates. There is not only that aspect but collaboration in a cooking club means people could learn from each other how to cook different meals. I would love this kind of extracurricular that embraces cultural diversity. There are cuisines from around the world that no one person knows how to cook on their own; luckily, they can be shared.

Lastly, a cooking club would promote a love of food for those that participate. Like I said, we eat to survive, but we can really enjoy this task of feeding ourselves when we learn to cook. I would want this extracurricular to reach as many people as possible for this reason alone. There is a reason why we get excited when we eat our favorite foods, or prepare a special meal for someone else. We all have our own tastes, and an extracurricular that helped us cultivate those could truly transform the way many of us experience food.