Today I went back to high school. Not to learn, but to teach. And man, what a flashback. I realized as I arrived that it has now been 10 years since I graduated, and folks that made me feel hella old. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the smell. All high schools smell the same… Like awkward uncontrolled hormones and body odour. It was an instant flashback to a time of angst, weirdness and insecurity.
I was there to give my good friend {who I met in high school} Danika a hand teaching her foods class how to make danishes and laminated doughs.
I have been teaching 4H cooking classes for ages 7-12 and really enjoying it, so I figured I could totally pull this off. That was before I remembered that during the teenage years a large portion of the brain becomes dormant and does not come back in to commission for many years. Even just walking down the hallway I saw teens who you could tell did not feel comfortable in their own skin awkwardly show off and hang off each other and react in strange outbursts. Much like toddlers, but worse because you can’t put them in time out or fix their issues with juice boxes. Once inside the classroom I started my demo of laminated dough used for croissants and danishes that little chef had helped me prep the day before.
A few of the kids were excellent keeners and asked smart questions and tried really hard to get it just right. And others… Wow. Little chef has a longer attention span than those guys. I know it’s not thier fault. As my oma says teenagers think that the world revolves around their face and their ass. And most of them grow out of it and become awesome adults. I feel like I did. I remember being a teenager and stomping through school in my hightops and Pink Floyd shirt carrying my latest painting and with my tap shoes and knitting project in my backpack.
I’m sure every adult who encountered me just rolled thier eyes and shot a prayer heaven bound that I would grow out of it and become a functioning member of society someday. Hopefully if they see me now they are impressed. Or at the very least not offended. And I somehow could not shake the feeling that I was living in some alternate universe and some adult was going to walk up to me and yell at me to get back to class. I guess it’s still hard to wrap my head around being the adult even after all these years. Even though I’m now someone’s mom. As one kid pointed out, “man you can’t even party now because you got PREGNANT”. Excellent observation young man… I had no idea.
But I do have hope for the blank stare pimple faces I met today. At least they have a cool teacher like Danika to help guide them through. And some excellent new Danish making skills they hopefully won’t forget.
Side note: I made that laminated dough from scratch. Like a boss. Can I get a fist pump from all my pastry people??!
-Stephanie
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