Essay #12
I have eaten peanut butter for 1,468 days straight. Unlike most kids, I didn’t discover this kitchen staple until I was 14. My mother has always hated peanut butter, and for years, my primary goal was to be exactly like her, so any time I saw it, I made a dramatic impression of someone vomiting.
Not only were our culinary preferences similar, but I also convinced myself that I’d become a bigshot psychiatrist and professor like she is. Since my first career day in kindergarten, I told my classmates I was going to be a doctor. During middle school, my mom often brought me to her office, where I met her colleagues and learned more about the medical field.
During the summer before high school, my curiosity led me to the peanut butter-and-jelly station in the mess hall at camp, and I suddenly felt compelled to eat a heaping spoonful of creamy Jif. As it turns out, despite my guilt, I LOVED it!
This lightbulb moment set off some confusion–as I wondered what other aversions my mother had that I’d mistakenly adopted as my own. As my teenage years progressed, I also became curious about other career options besides medicine, specifically the culinary arts.
I started watching Chopped, Kids Baking Championship, and Cupcake Wars. I was stunned to see how many kids created their own recipes, cooked for their families, and confidently demonstrated their culinary skills. Some had already launched their own businesses. They motivated me to find exotic recipes online and make them at home. Although my brothers and parents were reluctant guinea pigs, I occasionally whipped up treats that impressed everyone, including a scrumptious batch of blondies. Eventually, I began surprising my classmates. I loved being the friend who baked–the one who brought friends pastries and snacks made from scratch. At the beginning of the pandemic, my family complained that I was baking way too much, and there weren’t enough people in the household to eat all of my fattening creations. That’s when I launched Erica’s Cookie Company and raised money for several different nonprofits by selling cookies to customers in more than 30 states. I donated 60 percent of my profits to the American Civil Liberties Union, Black Lives Matter, and the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, and I collaborated with other small businesses and influencers on Instagram and Tik Tok. My work never felt like a job because I was in it for the pleasure and experience of creating unique, delicious desserts. I also felt a responsibility to support organizations combating police brutality and racism.
As my interest in the business aspect of the company grew, I was accepted into the Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business program, where I collaborated on entrepreneurial ideas with peers from around the world. We organized an online event featuring 10 keynote speakers–successful, independent businesswomen. They encouraged us to share our visionary business ideas with the world and convinced us that starting your own business at a young age can be empowering. I was hooked!
While I found this program inspiring, I had trouble tuning out negative feedback from friends and relatives who discouraged me from pursuing a career in the culinary arts. Even my math tutor tried to persuade me to go into medicine like my mother. My classmates seemed obsessed with professions that would turn us into money-making machines. At times, their pessimism made me panic, but I shut down the anxiety by reminding myself that I can’t base my career decisions on others’ expectations. Instead, I need to exploit my strengths and pursue my own ambitions even if they’re risky. While I still have a tremendous amount of respect for my mom and her accomplishments, my realization that I’m headed in a different direction has given me deeper insight into my own identity, and I discovered peanut butter along the way–a win-win situation!