Somewhere over the rainbow
somewhere over the rainbow...
..skies are blue...
...and the dreams that you dare to dream..
..really do come true..
Hi guys! Long time no see! It doesn’t matter how forgiving you guys are with my absent, it still bothers me when I’m away from my blog for a week at a time.
I’ve been craving m&m cookies for the longest time. Five days a week when I skytrain home from work, I pass by Costco. And when I see Costco, I think $2 rich and creamy ice cream cones and giant m&m cookies from their bakery section. Ever since my Costco membership ended I haven’t been able to get my m&m cookie fix!
But then I thought to myself: pah! easy solution to that! i’ll just make my own cookies!!!
Little did I know, m&m’s cost a fortune. Also with such a tight schedule I found it really hard to even make time for a cookie baking session.
Geez, what does a girl have to do to get some cookies? =.=
Can we get a little personal today ? I wanna tell you guys something that’s been really bothering me.
I think I’ve mentioned this somewhere on my blog; I really really want to be a dietitian.
Thing is, it’s not easy to do that, especially not in Vancouver.
The school I go to has a professional dietetics program that is synchronized with the national standards. It’s like the only dietetics program in BC (well at least I think so) so I really really really want to make it into the program.
Problem is, the standards to get are so high. They’re so high that even if I ride on a plane and climb onto the back of my 6’4″ friend I wouldn’t be able to reach it.
You need at a 80% avg with amazing volunteer work and amazing references that will say anything but good things about you.
80% avg, ha i can forget that. Don’t know what came over me, but I didn’t study hard at all in my first year even though I knew it was important. Right now I’m at about a 70% avg.
Volunteer work?! Don’t have anything that relate to dietetics. I started to apply for a nursing home position back in January but I got lazy and never handed in. If I had done that, I could be working closely with the dietitian there by now and have over a year of relevant volunteer experience.
I’m kicking myself in the butt right now. So many things were in my control but I chose not to do anything about it.
Why didn’t I study harder?
Why would I leave my homework to accumulate for weeks before actually touching it?
Why didn’t I hand that dang application in?
I feel like I have screwed myself over for life. You only get 2 chances to apply for that program and after those two, you don’t get another one. Hundreds of people apply but they only take 3o per year. I calculated my chance, it’s nil.
Oh and it gets worst cuz I just realized I don’t even have a backup plan. The academic advisor told me to have a backup plan way back in October but I have done nothing about it. Partly because I know that dietetics is the only thing I want to be in. Unfortunately I’m so lazy I lose sight of what’s important and slacked off so I never did anything to approach that goal.
I also hate that I’m thinking about all this now. Why now? Why in the summer when I should be enjoying my time off school? Why didn’t I think about this during school when I could actually do something about it?!
The thing is, I was also kinda depressed during term one so when term two rolled along, I decided I was sick of being depressed so I let myself go and ignored all the things that made me worry, which included how I was gonna get into the program.
I hope that somewhere along the way, skies will be blue and the dreams that I dare to dream will really come true.
Sorry for the lengthy post. If you made it this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me. Where troubles melt like lemon drops..
Chewy M&M and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
2 c + 2tbsp AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled til warm
1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 c chocolate chips
desired amount of m&ms for topping
How To
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Mix butter and sugar, then mix in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients gradually, mix until just combined, don’t want too much gluten now!
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Roll 1/4 c of dough in hands, rip them in half and face the jagged parts up while you join the two pieces together again. Place it on a baking sheet and crowd the top of the dough with m&ms. As the cookie bakes, it’ll spread and so will the m&ms.
Source: Baking Illustrated, p. 434
glad your back! with another bomb recipe! ahh theres something about m&m in cookies….so addicting
Yay you’ve returned! M&M cookies make me swoon, I love them so much!
About the dietician position–I really think you’d make an amazing one, with time anything’s possible girl. You have drive and perseverance, and if you really want to achieve your dream, I know you can. Maybe something bigger and better than that program is waiting for you. I’ll keep my fingers and toes crossed for ya!
alexandra, you’re so supportive!
thank you!
Well, I’m sure you can to anything that you apply yourself to!
On a lighter note, those M&M COOKIES LOOK AMAZING!!!!
Ugh I know how frustrating life plans can be… I had a minor freakout this semester when registering for classes because I realized that I was setting myself up with the only option of going to law school (which I don’t even know if that’s what I want to do so it’s scary). I haven’t actually taken any steps to fix my worries, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually.
I’m sorry you’re stressing about getting into the program, but I know you can do it! Don’t worry about things you can’t change just work towards it:) Maybe you can take classes outside of your college or start a community service club at school that has to do with nutrition (volunteer and leadership BAM)? Ok I’ll be quiet now.
Sorry for the longest post ever (and for me trying to give advice haha)! At least there are always your m&m cookies to make everyone happy!
don’t you just hate how school is like rushing us to make decisions? announce your major by this date, take these courses by this date, do this do that, it sucks! i mean, i guess if you didn’t want to make a decision right away, you could take a break from school for a bit, but that’s such a waste of time!
don’t be sorry at all julia! i love that you’re giving me advice
you’re very right about focusing on the future. i tend to always live in the past, i always wish things could be the way they WERE or i wish i could go back and relive a certain time, but you’re right, we have to move on!
I.feel.you.pain!!! I have always been a “B” average student. This is something I have always been OK with, but when I chose a path that was also difficult to get into (3.9 average..yikes) I had to change something. It has taken me about four years to complete a two year prerequisite program because I am currently retaking classes to BETTER my grade. I sat around being upset and angry that my “B” grade wasn’t good enough. I worked hard for those grades, and the classes were so hard. I realized I needed to stop being lazy and just DO it, because no one was going to do it for me.
A lot of the stuff I feel like I have done for this program are unfair, and unnecessary, but they are required so I have to get them done. Same goes for you. You are SO young still and have so much time, but I know exactly how you feel when you think you have wasted a lot of time. I sometimes think if I had done things other ways that I would be somewhere else in my life right now, but we have to STOP thinking like that. Live in the now, and not in the future. Take things slow..take one or two classes at a time and put your all into them. You are a SMART girl and have such a passion for food and nutrition that you will easily excel in the profession, but there is only one way to get there so do what you need to do and stand out from the crowd!! You will get there..just don’t rush yourself otherwise you will get overwhelmed just like I did! Slow and steady wins the race, or the degree of dietitian. =)
aw brittany i read this so many times over and over again
you’re truly an inspiration
Sorry to hear that you’re stressin’ about school right now. I know the feeling. I failed my first class ever this past sememster. And I need to print out my grades so I can keep the good student discount on my car insurance but I’m afraid I don’t have the required B average. I need to make the next year and a half of school the best it can be.
You can turn everything around too, you’ve only been in school a year so it won’t be as hard as you think!
aw amy, im sorry to hear you failed your course! i got my first c+ since elementary school in second semester, it crushed me
thanks for the encouragement girl!
…away above the chimney tops, that’s where you’ll find me… man i love that song.
i was so so so sad when i wasn’t able to get a cookie. especially when im in love with m&ms. AND especially when ed took the last cookie
. However, they look freaking awesome and the piece I had was reaaallly good 
:D:D
if you know being a dietitian is what you wanna do, im sure you can still do it!! If it takes doing one more year of school than normal to reach the average you need, then i say it’s worth it cuz you know this is what you want to do. Hm.. elective courses aren’t included in the calculation so if you are taking any electives, stop!! lol. You can always take fewer courses per semester so you have more time and can concentrate on them better :/ Academic performance is only 40% of the admission score so all hope has not been lost! And knowing you, you will definitely rock the interview part
Now is the time to start looking for some volunteer opportunities to beef up the resume and reference part.. if you like, i can kick you on friday to get your butt in gear ;D heheh
i know you can do it!
yvonne, yenno what i love about u? the fact that you actually searched and read the requirements to help me. I usually avoid searching it up cuz it makes me nervous, but i gotta face my fears now and “get my butt in gear” LOL
you’re thebomb.com
If you’re at UBC, the dietetics program takes 25% of the QUALIFIED applicants – those with the volunteer work and the average and everything. I know this because my friend got in last year, and I was aiming for that program too. I did my first year this past year, and absolutely hated it. For me, the first two years of general sciences with a very slim chance of actually making it into the program turned me off, so I’m not going back, and certainly not to dietetics.
I really don’t mean to bash it – good for you for keeping at it. You’re more dedicated than I am! (And I’m totally with you on the lack of studying… Those straight As through high school disappeared way back)
Oh my gosh – M&M cookies are my ABSOLUTE weakness. I just cannot pass them up when they’re put in front of me. I really need to make my own.
PS I tagged you in my 7 links post
ooooo im excited! im gonna do it soon!
Gee, so timely a topic. I am starting my grad studies next week! I am a bit anxious since I haven’t been a student in a while.
When I was in first year, I thought I knew what I wanted to get into. I realized very quickly I did not have an aptitude for the required courses and on top of that it was competitive to get in. In the end, I took courses I really enjoyed and received high grades in and it ended up leading me into a field I now enjoy immensely.
Take courses that you excel in, and make sure being a dietitian is really something you want to be. There are many occupations food related that are interesting. Food safety/food inspector, chef, working in food research, Food science technician, quality assurance technician, etc and some don’t even require a degree…though since you are there, I suppose you ought to look into other foodie areas you can earn a degree.
You are young. Take courses that you typically get high marks in and don’t fight any natural aptitudes. Sometimes the elective courses turn out to be the majors. If you still want to be a dietitian so badly, I don’t see an expiration date on that possibility.
cakebrain, you’re always so motivating with your comments
thanks so much for being realistic. instead of saying things along the lines of “im sure you can do it!” you said things that gave me more to think about. i know this program is super competitive but being a dietitian is the only thing I want to be. I have never been more sure about something than this. Years ago I’ve thought about being an accountant or a pharmacist but those ideas were put into my head by my parents. This is the first time I’ve ever found something I’m truly passionate about on my own and I’m gonna work hard to get it!
I made something very similar recently and mailed them to my little 4-year old sister in Florida for her birthday. Very yummy indeed!
aw you have a 4 year old sister?! that’s adorable!