Expertise+Statement

EDC 102: Introduction to American Education Expertise Statement Sarah Hutchins Due: 9/16/13

As I thought about this assignment, I realized that there are many things I know well but, while some of them have taken a lot of hard work and intentional practice for me to master, others I’ve been able to teach to myself because of my natural inclinations. One thing I learned recently was how to make guacamole. During the Spring 2012 school semester, I took a public speaking class. In this class, my classmates and I had to present a demonstration of something we knew well to the class—one of my classmates demonstrated how to make guacamole! In class, I watched carefully as she peeled and mashed the avocado, squeezed the lime, measured the garlic & salt, diced the tomato, chopped the jalapeno, and mixed it all together in a bowl. She had brought some tortilla chips for the class to sample the finished product and it was the best guacamole I had ever tasted! Her skill and excitement inspired me to try to make it for the very first time. Later that week, with all the ingredients readily available in my home, I thought back to my public speaking class where the magic had happened and tried my best to remember the recipe. To my pleasant surprise, I executed the guacamole perfectly! This gave me the confidence and the craving to continue making this Mexican dip every week that summer. In order to learn this, I engaged each of my senses. I watched and listened carefully to my classmate as she made the guacamole and I tasted it to learn the flavor of what I wanted to create. Then, I practiced. I didn’t actually finish learning until after I had a lot of practice working with my ingredients. My mom also helped me learn by making suggestions. Through my creative personality, I also experimented with different ratios and ingredients to learn it even better. It was through all of this that I really learned to make, what my family and I consider to be, a perfect guacamole.