4:30 AM. The alarm goes off, waking up twenty-four-year-old Alfredo. You are still sleeping. Alfredo gets up, gets dressed, has breakfast, and kisses his girlfriend goodbye. He drives from the valley to the Marymount campus in Bel-Air. He arrives at 5:00 AM. Most of you are still sleeping.  As he walks onto the campus, he reflects upon his life. He thinks back to when he was a little kid and left home alone with his brother while his mother was working to make a living, and forced to cook to support his family. He soon developed a love for cooking that no one could take away.

He walks into the Marymount kitchen, says “hi” to his coworkers, and begins prepping for the day. This sense of community reminds him of the bond with his six brothers, although the SAGE community might be a little more “calm.” By 6:00 AM, a lot of the food for the day is already prepared, food that will soon be consumed by you and your peers. Food and menus that took months to plan out, to create, and days to cook. Alfredo and his team work together to assemble both breakfast and lunch.

Beginning at 7:30, students begin pulling up in Marymount’s driveway. Alfredo feels a sense of excitement as the Marymount girls arrive, reminding him of the days that he worked at Brentwood High School, along with supporting his younger siblings through cooking. By the time class starts for you at 8:00, SAGE is creating lunch, Alfredo’s favorite meal to cook. After everyone is fed at lunch, Alfredo goes home (around 1:30), and has put in a good day of work.

By the time you get to school, Alfredo and the rest of SAGE have already put in half a day of work. When you are in class, Alfredo dreams of going back to school and getting a business degree, so one day, he can have enough money to send his kids to go to Marymount. Rather than critiquing the food of SAGE, try to keep in mind how diligently the culinary staff works to prepare your meals every day.  While you may be critiquing the food of SAGE, Alfredo goes home and tells his family how much he “loves working at Marymount.”