As the first half of my undergraduate career comes frighteningly close to an end – aka I’m definitely procrastinating studying right now – I am reminded of my imminent 20th birthday right after finals. (I didn’t have a summer birthday until college because of how early UNC starts and ends… At least I always got to bring cupcakes into class on my birthday growing up!) Leaving the teenage years behind isn’t usually a significant event for college kids because we are still essentially fake adults. For someone who runs a blog called “Diary of a Teenage Baker”, though, I suppose I should acknowledge it.
Ever since I debuted this website about three years ago, people have asked me what would happen once I turned 20. After wrestling with the idea of changing the name, I’ve decided that it wouldn’t make sense for me to change my blog for every life stage I go through – Diary of a Broke College Student… Diary of a Law Student… Diary of a Real-Person-with-a-Job… etc. My love for cooking and baking will always be with me no matter where I am in life, so Diary of a Teenage Baker is here to stay. I’m even going to have a real kitchen in my apartment when I move off campus next year, so you can expect more regular updates next semester… after my my summer abroad!
I am excited beyond words to have the opportunity to study International Conflict Resolution in Geneva, Switzerland and London, UK for a total of eight weeks. I will eat and travel my way through Europe both during and after the program, and I’ll be sure to document accordingly. That said, I feel like I am due for a camera upgrade after five years of using a mediocre Nikon point-and-shoot for food photography. My best shots have been taken with my friends’ DSLRs. I figured that my once-in-a-lifetime trip warrants the investment to properly preserve those memories, as well as for future food shoots on the blog. After much research and consideration, I’ve decided to spring for a mirrorless digital camera system that fits my travel and food photography needs. I’m super excited to learn how to use it and improve as a photographer! Hopefully you will see the fruits of that gift on this blog!
I may or may not have a paper due in five hours that I should return to now, but thank you from the bottom of my heart to each and every one of you for supporting Diary of a Teenage Baker – especially those who have been following since its inception! I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me and for this blog.