Friday, March 17, 2006

Becoming a Food-ie

Lately I have really started to enjoy food.

I've always liked the eating of it, but the last 6 months have really started to pique my interest in mixing flavors and becoming adept in the kitchen.

This is why I've fallen head over heals in love with a new show on Bravo.

It's called Top Chef.

Its a bunch of people who think they can really cook well in a reality show competing to win money.

The thing that gets me about this show is that when something doesn't come together they make excuses. They sit at the judging table and complain about the time constraint or the freezer not working, or the ice cream melting in transit.


"History will never accept difficulties as an excuse."
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Albert W. Daw Collection
Similarly, as a TA I hear repeatedly from students that the classes are just too hard. They whine to me about how much time and effort they have to put into their assignments.

In response I furrow my brow and say, well, this is engineering. No one said it was going to be easy, but I promise it will be worth it.

I'm so tired of people constantly complaining that things are hard for them when they've put themselves in the situation.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you want a really great food blog go to http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

He will be your new top chef.

k said...

I think complaining is contagious - once you, or someone around you starts, it is hard to get yourself out of the complaining mentality.

Unknown said...

I had the same problem last semester in the physiology course I TA'd. And this was a doctoral-level course! The students were so incredibly lazy and whined about EVERY SINGLE exam (which half the class subsequently failed, the other half made above a 90%, showing it COULD be done). I just wanted to smack their hands and tell them to go sit in the corner and stop making excuses and study like good PhD students.

Heather said...

Ok, this is why I am so afraid to go in and talk to my professors/ta's about anything. I think they'll assume my complaints are unwarranted and make me feel like an idiot, like them misgrading something is my fault or something. If I ever feel like I was given a bad grade unjustly I just suck it up and let it pass because I don't want to bug my professor's with my "complaints".

Anonymous said...

I guess that touched a nerve. So many public schools systems have adpoted "cooperative learning" models that too many students have come to expect success only as part of a group where minimal personal effort is required to succeed - largely because there is usually at least one self-motivated student who will do the work neccessary for the group to succeed.
Enjoy exploring teh wonderful world of food - it's fun & you can always eat your mistkes!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a by-product of this generation.

they've been so coddled... given everything they want...
They got ribbons for just showing up to a pee-wee soccer game, never mind winning. They never expected to actually have to work for something. Going to class oughta cinch it, whatdayamean I have to work?

Courtney said...

I like the JFK quote... adding it to my list.
:)

Anth said...

"I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it." We used to have a name for that line...what was it???

Maggie said...

I thought the same thing as anth when I read that line!