Cooking Club Leadership

For President- Arianna Smith: As the founding President of Cooking Club our initial semester, I was upset to turn down the position the following year due to other obligations I believed would hinder my ability to lead the club. I have enjoyed being a member this last semester, but I realized how much I missed being a part of the club's leadership. I have had the opportunity to speak with current leadership and fellow members, and their ideas for next semester excite me. I would love to be considered for a leadership position and bring these ideas and more to life. Every club's goal is to be sustainable, and it is my hope to be a strong leader who will lay the groundwork for future leaders to take up the mantle and carry on the club long after the current and prospective leaders graduate. Not to mention, I absolutely love sharing recipes with our community and hope we can finally start cooking together in person in the fall!

For Vice President- Katherine Patterson: Hello everybody! My name is Katherine Patterson, and I'm a senior majoring in Biology. I'm interested in studying chronic diseases in the future, which is partially stemmed from my fascination with the Chinese culture and medicine. I’ve been involved with leadership in the Cooking Club as its founding treasurer in 2019 and as president in 2020. It’s been an amazing experience to see people’s enthusiasm for the cooking club and to get to watch the club grow and change so much since it began. I hope to continue to see the club evolve from whatever capacity I'm involved with it. I'm running for vice president of the Cooking Club because I want to have an impact in the club’s direction for next year. Specifically, I want the Cooking Club to host events where we learn about global cuisines through collaboration with other organizations. Additionally, I want to implement some of the plans we had from last year, especially the ones where we have monthly college cooking basics and community service outreach. I think both of these are fun and helpful activities, because not only do we get to learn more recipes, but we also get to improve our culinary skills. It doesn’t matter what skill set you’re at, whether you’re a beginner who sets the fire alarm off or someone who has been cooking for several years but will still set the firm alarm off doing the same exact thing multiple times— there will always be something for you to do, and something you can learn.

For Secretary

For On-Campus Coordinator- Victoria Valero: My name is Victoria L. Valero and I want to apply as the On-campus coordinator for the 2021-2022 academic year. The reason why I want to apply for this position is because cooking, in general, is a big part of my character. Being born into a Cuban household and growing up in Miami, I have always been surrounded by the sounds of a busy kitchen and the smells of fantastic food. The practices of how to make the perfect Cuban coffee and other Cuban dishes have been ingrained into my skin since I first showed interest in cooking. So, when I first heard of this club, I was over the moon to know that I could share the dishes I make and learn from others about the recipes I have yet to try. Then, when I heard positions were opening, I knew I had to take the opportunity to at least apply. I may not have a lot of personal experience in a leadership position, I have participated in numerous MLD programs such as Frosh Mosh, Emerging Eagle, and Beyond the Lines which help prepare and educate students on how to be successful leaders on campus. Currently, I am a Multicultural Ambassador and training to be a Parent orientation leader for E.V.O over the summer. With these positions, I am learning not only how to effectively communicate with others, but I am also going to be building on personal relationships with other organizations on campus (especially over the summer for E.V.O). Therefore, I can be a great addition to the club because I would have a significant amount of networking with a good majority of organizations on campus. I await to see the results from the voting and appreciate being considered. Thank you!

For Off-Campus Coordinator- Ashrith Varidhireddy: I'm interested in off-campus coordinator since that's easy for me right now and I'm great at reaching to other organizations and clubs about events that the cooking club is interested in taking part in, I am great at emailing them too and any ways to spread awareness of cooking club too, thank you.

For Fundraising Coordinator

For Publicity Manager- Christain Hochmuth: My name is Christian Hochmoth and I would like to run for publicity manager for the 2021-2022 academic year. Although I do not have an extensive history with marketing, I have been entrusted as the acting publicity manager for the FGCU Cooking Club currently. Since late February 2021, I have been primarily running the Instagram page (also making extensive upgrades), making updates on the Groupme, and monitoring the email. I have yet to make serious updates to the webpage, although I do have experience in the making of a webpage as I do have my own personal page that I sometimes use within resumes. Along with this experience, I pride myself with having above average communication skills and plenty of experience in leadership positions. If elected as publicity manager, I will be extremely prompt when it comes to answering people via social media and other means of communication. I will also serve members as a resourceful leader that is willing to listen and be open to all suggestions put forth.