I met Chef Thom Stevenson last summer when I was hired to photograph him in his role as the Executive Chef at Cancer Support Communities of Central Ohio, and it was one of those “Oh there you are.” kind of moments. Fast forward a few months, and I had a phone call from him, wanting to know if I would be interested and willing to come down to Ohio University (Thom is also a professor at Ohio) and speak to one of his classes about what I do and how it relates to the food world. I was so in.

Guest Lecturing at Ohio University

The day that I drove down to Athens was one of those perfect fall days, sunny and crisp, the leaves had just started to think about changing with the smokey tang of fall in the air. As with any early morning drive (and really, any early morning) I hit up my favorite coffee drive through, cranked up the tunes, and got on the road.

The idea that I was going to be talking to a class full of University students, talking about food and blogging, photography, networking, and how I took my love of food and feeding people and took it a different route from working in kitchens, talk about surreal.

Once I’d arrived, found the building (and classroom) that I was supposed to be in, had the tour, and parked it in a chair waiting for the students to arrive.

We sat around one of the long tables in the lecture side of the space (the kitchen being on the other) and talked food. It was so much fun to see how each one of them thought about food, thought about what they wanted their roll within such a large and varied industry to look like, and how if you don’t see one that’s already clearly defined, what it takes and looks like to make your own.

These kids y’all, they’re inspiring. In a big way.

After the talking portion of the day was over, we transitioned to the kitchen side of the room and got to cooking the days recipes. That day we were celebrating Oktoberfest, (I know, I know, I’m a little behind on my posts), and as such all of the recipes for the day were German.

Chef Thom and I moved around answering questions, helping where needed, whether it was demonstrating a technique, answering questions as they came up, and when needed, stepping in to save something from burning or otherwise being destroyed.

Watching these students come to life as the recipes worked the way that they were supposed to, and hearing the questions that they asked when they didn’t, crazy inspiring.

The last portion of the time that we had was spent sharing the meal that we’d all just had a hand in preparing, along with the dean, the administration staff (who’s offices are across the hall), annnnnd a couple of people I grabbed out of the hallway as they were passing by.

As the class drew to a close, I couldn’t believe how fast the time had flown.

Driving back to Columbus, windows down, tunes cranked back up, I had one of those “Whoa. I really am an adult now, moments, and it was great”.