Her name is Azusena, with an S

The first time I saw her I knew right away. After she made her first Alfredo Sauce, my decision was confirmed. She would be my second contestant for the scholarship competition.

It was the second semester and I had barely eight weeks to train a student for the district wide competition. I, myself, was also in training with the sponsoring organization, C-CAP (Careers Through Culinary Arts Program). I was starting to panic.

She came to my class and announced that her name is spelled with an S. (I first thought of changing the Z to an S, but no, it was the C that should become S.) She is the very first student who was concerned with how her name is spelled. For me it means conviction, determination. I asked her if she would consider competing. The answer - YES.
With complete dedication, Sue and Danny, the other contestant, started practicing their knife and ommelette making skills for the preliminaries. Fortunately, they both made it to the finals. Sue received a scholarship to go to the San Francisco Culinary School. While doing some catering she was also pursuing a biology degree at UC Berkley.

Two years ago, her younger sister, Lupe, started teaching in my school and, coincidence of all coincidences, used my classroom for intersession classes. That's when I learned that Sue is working as a Chef Instructor at Kitchen Academy in Hollywood and have plans of teaching at her high school Alma Mater.
Last Thursday, April 17, was the first meeting of our school's CTE Advisory Board. I invited Sue to be a member of the board because I believe that she will be a perfect role model for many students. I also told her she can take my place when I retire.

Another perk of being a teacher.