Cooking Lesson Creates Connection

PSE is about community

As we near the one-year mark since the beginning of the pandemic and our long quarantine, a lot of us might find our situation incredibly overwhelming.  I know I often do.  I miss my in-person classes, I miss seeing my friends every day, and I miss social events in general.  It is times like these, however, that I am so thankful that I am a Paper Science student.  The PSE program has gone above and beyond to try to make this semester as normal as possible for its students despite the pandemic, and this past month was the perfect example.  On Thursday, February 25th, thanks to Dr. Jameel, his wife Mari and TAPPI, we had the first, and hopefully reoccurring, social dinner over ZOOM.

I am currently in PSE 371 with Dr. Jameel.  One day in class, he asked us if we would be interested in a fundraiser dinner with him and TAPPI over ZOOM.  We all said yes, of course, but I had no idea how much fun the event was going to be.  A few weeks later we received the official sign-up email from TAPPI, and I began counting down the days.

Step one…Frozen Dumplings

The first step was to pick up our frozen gyoza/dumplings.  Dr. Jameel donated these to TAPPI and then participants bought the meal kits from TAPPI for $5.  Kara Holland, the TAPPI fundraising chair, sat outside Biltmore Hall (on a rare, beautiful, and warm day that month) and bagged up our meal kits.  That evening, at 6:00pm, a group of thirty PSE students along with faculty and staff gathered on ZOOM to prepare and then eat dinner together.  We were even joined by Dr. Myron Floyd, the Dean of the College of Natural Resources!  Dr. Jameel was joined by his wife, Mari, and she led us through the process of cooking the dumplings.  All in our separate zoom rectangles, working away in our own kitchens, we followed along with Mari as we graciously showed us how to cook the dumplings.

We quickly learned that all kitchens are not created equal, and it was fun to see how different people improvised throughout the process.  For example, my friend Sarah and I did not have a lid to cover our dumplings, so it was probably hilarious to look at us on the ZOOM screen and see us rushing to cover the pan with tinfoil!  Afterwards, we all stayed on the ZOOM call to eat an amazing meal and catch-up together.  For most of us, it was the first time in months that we had seen certain people, and it was so nice to have this moment together.

Step two…Dumpling Dinner was a Ton of Fun

The night was filled with laughter and smiles, and I was incredibly thankful for the mental health boost that it provided for me personally.  I was not the only one to love the event, however.  For everyone involved, the event was a success.  As Sydney Epps wrote, “The dumpling dinner was a ton of fun!  The food was good, we had some good laughs thanks to Dr. Jameel and everybody, and it was a good deal price wise.  Can’t wait for the next one!”  Abby Saul had a similar response, “I loved the idea of cooking food with Dr. J and everyone in PSE because it felt like a family dinner almost (as much as you can with COVID). It was also enjoyable to see professors and PSE staff outside of the classroom environment and interacting with them on a more personable level.”  Finally, I reached out to Dr. Jameel himself to get his thoughts on the event, “When Kara first suggested the idea to me I thought it was crazy, but as we thought about it we got more excited about it.  The hard part was coming up with a menu that would be easy for all to make but fun and good to eat. I loved it, but Mari had to do most of the work; but as you saw she is a good sport.

We would both like to thank TAPPI for the great fun aprons they gave us.  We have used them already.”

Just as Sydney said, we cannot wait for the next one!  During the event, we talked about how much fun it would be if we could have one of these dinners every month or so, each time with a different professor cooking their signature meal.  I think this is the perfect opportunity for us all to learn more about our professors and socialize with each other despite our current circumstances, and I am so excited to see what our department manages to accomplish!

Thank you Dr. Jameel, Mari & TAPPI Officers

Thank you to Dr. Jameel and Mari for welcoming us into your kitchens and leading us in such a fun meal and thank you to the TAPPI officers for the wonderful work you have done during these past two semesters to keep us all from going insane!  If I have learned anything during my time here at State, it is just how resilient the Paper Science team really is, and I am so proud to be a part of this family!

By guest blogger Gracelyn Woods