For this experience, I started making different kinds of recipes, usually with the help of my younger sister. We tried using the trial and error method by making the same food using different recipes to see which turns out to be better. Also, we developed different cooking skills like chopping, mixing, grinding, baking, etc. and tried identifying our mistakes to avoid making them while cooking in future. Furthermore, we made our family and friends taste the foods we made and give their honest feedbacks for further improvement and development in our skills. We started cooking on the 5th of January.

LO1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

This experience helped me identify the skills I have and the areas that require improvement, throughout this process of learning to cook multiple recipes and different foods, gave me an insight of the skills that I need to work on and some things that I’m able to do well. Being aware about my strengths and weaknesses gives me a sense of awareness, for me to know where I stand, how I can make the food taste better and how my skills improve with every new recipe I make. The feedback that I get from my friends and family also helps me understand what I can do better. Also, knowing about one’s own strengths and weaknesses promotes the ability to be able to take critical feedback and work on it, to improve oneself.

LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

Throughout this process, there have been certain challenges that were faced. At times, it was harder to get the desired results even after following the given instructions perfectly, sometimes due to difference in resources or other factors, I failed to get the end product as I thought it would be. This made it harder to understand where I lacked and the weaknesses that held me back from getting the desired results. However, eventually, this challenge helped sharpen my ability to understand the mistakes that were made, to be able to put together the feedback and analyse the strengths and weakness to be able to reflect on them and recognise what was lacking. This challenge also helped me gain confidence as it helped me develop my skills and be self aware about where I can make improvements.

LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

Being able to work collaboratively majorly contributes to obtaining the best results but sometimes it’s harder to work with someone because their way of working is very different than yours which might lead to disagreements. However, in this experience, working collaboratively came rather easily as I guided my partner according what she likes doing and was good at. This created a balance as she completed tasks according to her specialisation and I completed them according to mine since we were good at different tasks. It was important to work collaboratively and create a balance as to fulfil all required tasks and get the best outcomes, also, it is easier to analyse each other’s strengths and weakness to avoid errors. Leadership acted as a very important part of the whole process since I was responsible for assigning roles to my partner and she was responsible for completing those roles effectively, this increased the quality of the work that was done.