This week I was reading more of the book Roadtrip Nation and
felt a singular connection to Charlie Trotter, a chef in Chicago who cooks for
celebrities and politicians. His path was not all that different from mine.
Trotter was a political science major who liked to cook and understood the
intimacy of food and the relationship between the table and togetherness. He
also enjoyed philosophy and reading. What I found most striking about Trotter’s
interview was his passion for learning. When he started in the restaurant
business he was making $3.10 an hour but still thought “these guys are idiots!
They’re giving me $3.10 and I should be paying them.” This is because Charlie
was learning a trade he enjoyed. I have this feeling constantly because of my
wheelchair basketball and study abroad scholarships—I am being subsidized to
play the sport that I love during my time at the University of Illinois and
explore the capital of Morocco this Summer. Last summer, even though I didn’t
end up seeing myself in retail, I enjoyed the training I received as a sales
team member at the Buckle and felt that developing my ability to sell products
and put together visual displays was valuable. Like Charlie, I enjoy the
pursuit of knowledge and see it as a bonus when I am reciprocated for it. I
also subscribe to his philosophy “it doesn’t really matter that you don’t
understand everything quickly… Sometimes when we take a little time we gain a
more profound knowledge of things.” As a student-athlete I get inundated with
things to do and people to meet, and once in a while it’s healthy to sit back
and look at the big picture to get a better look at what I actually enjoy doing,
what challenges me creatively, and what I can afford not to do.
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