For my first and last Mini-Course Week, I decided to stay on campus and see what the school had to offer.

To start off my adventure, I went to an interior design class where I had the opportunity to design my dream bedroom or college dorm room, using scaled measurements on graph paper.

30-Minute Meals was the second class on Monday where I learned how to make Carrabba’s copycat meals in only 30 minutes. These meals consisted of fresh organic materials, and they were restaurant-quality delicious.

Tuesday was my first day off campus. Two full school buses took a large group of Academy girls ice skating at the Brandon rink. We were all able to catch a break from the hot Florida sun for a day and enjoy some time spent with our friends. A wide assortment of delicious snacks were offered in the lobby during our break from being on the ice.

Wednesday was by far my favorite day. We cooked Greek food at a gorgeous house with Mrs. Kafantaris. Making Greek food is not an easy task. It takes time and energy to perfect the recipes, but it is absolutely worth it. When we were done, we were able to sit down and enjoy a family-style meal with all of our home-cooked foods.

On Thursday, we dressed in our best to take a hospitality tour of the beautiful Hyatt Hotel. We were split up into groups, in which we had to plan an event and then present it to the president of the catering company. The group with the best presentation received movie tickets to any AMC theater.  At the end of the visit, we had a delicious lunch which the hotel provided for us in one of the meeting rooms.

Mini-Course Week was definitely a success, and it will remain as one of my favorite memories at the Academy.