6 Things I Believe My Daughter Learned This Year

Hello my friends and readers, I hope your week is off to fantastic start.

For the past year my daughter, Marchelle, has been attending school in Hyde Park, New York. Marchelle is pursuing culinary studies to be a pastry chef. If you know me, my children have come to define for me the true meaning of success. Success for me is not what I do for a living today even though I enjoy what I do. Success is not defined by income or wealth.

I see my success in my children. This is success I could not attain by myself but rather with my wife’s diligence, persistent and perseverance.

Marchelle is a fantastic daughter and today I would like to share with you six things I believe she learned over the past year.

1. She is confident that she is loved by me and my wife. This plays out in different ways. It could be a call home just to chat a bit after a bad day. Marchelle is confident and she has high self-esteem. She is confident in the field she has chosen to pursue. She understands the challenges and what it takes to succeed in stressful kitchen.
2. She has learned not just to be a good leader but be a tremendous team player. In the kitchen, Marchelle understands the importance of good leadership and team work. Earlier this month during Canadian Thanksgiving I was able to observe and work with her in our kitchen at home. I admired how she carefully laid out her plans for dessert, provided clear instructions for me and my wife, her grandma and even 5 y.o. Marisa. Her execution in the kitchen was flawless including washing up if I slacked off with the dirty pots and pans!
3. The benefits of starting her day early. For her summer externship, she worked one shift that started 5.30am every day for about 6 to 8 weeks. This meant she had to be up at 3.30am every day to get ready and get into work. For the other weeks she started working daily at 3pm and finished at 2am.
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5. Practice makes perfect. In order to become who she wants to be she is habitually doing the things that will form her. As a parent, I am impressed by Marchelle’s excellent work ethics.
6. The importance of not succumbing to her fears. Despite her doubts and fears, Marchelle is advancing with sense of purpose and determination. She receives lots of encouragement from people around her but her biggest cheerleader is 5 y.o Marisa!
7. The importance of dreaming big. The summer after Marchelle finished grade 11 she completed her high school co-op internship program with Bonnie Gordon in Toronto. Fast forward to her summer externship this year. Marchelle successfully completed her externship at Eleven Madison Park a Michelin Three Star Restaurant in Manhattan.

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog  http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.