Microbiology, macrobiology and all the subjects under the biology umbrella are very interesting to senior Emma Bowen.
Bowen is enrolled in a biotechnology class at the Center of Academic Achievement(CAA), which takes up three of her credit hours and helps her gain further experience in a field that isn’t accessible in a normal chemistry class.

“Yeah, yesterday, we’re working with NaOH, which is a really strong base,” Bowen said. “So if it got on our skin, we’d end up with ulcers. So like, you aren’t gonna find those, like actual, real dangerous chemicals in your average high school chemistry lab. But being there, we have the equipment and the resources to actually work with those.”

Bowen has said that she joined this class to get out and meet other people from different schools, and to have experience with other people and be in a lab constantly and learn how that career works as a whole. Bowen is currently working to get her Eagle in Boy Scouts and applied to a few colleges. She’d like to minor in Jewish Studies and Latin and major in anthropology and eventually get her masters.

Lucy Hutton’s family was never really into cooking. It was never really something they did. In contrast, in her friends’ house, she would cook in a big group, which sparked her passion for the culinary arts. She signed up for the classes to get a more hands on approach and credit. Hutton said the chefs at the Bistro can get a little aggressive, which is fair, but they’re really just there to help.

“They’re there to make you better and shape you into what they see you can do,” Hutton said. “I would not be where I am without them. They’ve gotten me jobs. They’ve gotten me opportunities. I mean, they’ve gotten me into all the competitions that I’ve ever done. And like, we have kind of like, established competitions at the Bistro, but they have pushed limits and gotten me into like, extra competitions, like [at] the [American Culinary Federation]. We don’t do that one, but I was able to go to Michigan and compete in that. Super fun, super amazing.”

Lucy won fifth in the nation her first year in National ProStart Invitational competition in Washington, DC
. Competitions are now a part of her daily life. Now, it’s not something she necessarily does, but something that comes naturally. These experiences were made possible because of the CAA.

“I mean, for me, I would say, I don’t know about any of the classes from the CAA, but to come here is kind of like a breath of fresh air,” Hutton said.