12-Hour Shifts, Missed Classes, and a Hard Goodbye to the Kitchen Life

I have been very busy in life that I was weeks away from Hive. It was a tough time and the start of physical classes stopped me from doing blogs, but I still tried to support others whenever I could give time to Hive. Today, I am grateful to be free again from what chained me every day during these past days in the adulting phase, and I am finally able to write some updates about my life to my dearest readers, for whom I write.

I was very busy not only in academics but also because I had a part-time job in a cafe near our area. In Service Box Cafe, I applied as a kitchen staff, but now I have resigned since classes started and I could not manage my time together with other responsibilities in school and at home. I was really frustrated with my setup. I could not focus on my academics, so I decided to resign and am now searching for another job that offers a work-from-home setup. Today is my last day, and I could not help but recollect the days I was very busy there, struggling to meet my needs and academic requirements.

Welcome to Service Box Cafe, where I worked during the days I was away from Hive. It offers a good cafe ambiance suitable for family and friendship gatherings, as well as personal time. The cafe is quiet in the morning until noon, as I noticed, and it becomes rush hour beyond those hours. The slow setup comes back at 8 at night and beyond. Noon time means a lot of customers, mostly foreigners, and it means many orders hanging in the kitchen and frustrating moments for all kitchen staff, who stumble upon each other during busy minutes and sometimes become too silent as we focus on our work.

I was working in the kitchen although I applied for a barista position, but since there were no slots available, I pushed through with the kitchen staff position without any experience or knowledge in culinary work. Things were rough, but with the guidance of the head chef and senior kitchen staff, I was able to perform at my best in the kitchen, serving quality food to our beloved customers. I really had no knowledge of cooking except cutting vegetables and putting sauces. The rest were new to me, especially since we follow standard culinary practices in the cafe.

Cooking was not the only job inside the kitchen. Washing dishes, plating, production, and cleaning were some of the tasks I needed to do in order to get a pay that is honestly not good and does not equate to our work in the cafe. The unreasonable and minimum pay also made me think twice about my work there. Although I learned to love the kitchen, sometimes things at work do not go smoothly when it comes to money. Still, it helped me with my studies, and now I have some savings from the cafe to use for my college needs.

The cooking part was the hardest for me. It is not only about putting ingredients in a pot or cutting the vegetables needed, but having a heart for cooking, to love it unconditionally and skillfully so you can create quality and best-selling recipes. I would say pizza was the easiest for me to cook inside, and I might sound arrogant here, but I can share that I have already memorized the ingredients of all the pizzas in the cafe. Recipes that involve soup, like chapsuey and bulalo, were the hardest for me, and I could not easily follow the chef’s instructions, given that soup needs skillful effort to balance the taste. So I settled with foods that needed to be grilled, fried, oven-baked, steamed, and rawly mixed like salads.

I really worked 12 hours a day, and sometimes I did not get to attend my classes so I could work more and have good savings. But when the time came and I learned that I had missed many performances and required activities, I was worried that I could not balance my work and studies. I also could not cope with the idea that my mind was split between these two responsibilities.

I was hopeful to persevere in the cafe, with all the staff being kind and helpful, and the heads being generous, but studies need to be prioritized, especially since I am taking a Psychology program that requires laborious attention and acquisition of knowledge. I really thought it would be easy for me, as I have always believed I could work under pressure, which was true, not until I realized that the body reacts in ways the mind cannot. I became tired, loose, and weary, and every morning I felt frustrated getting up and just wished for a comfortable and wealthy life. Still, I rose and went to work, but the day came when I chose my sanity over work and money.

Now, I am searching for a job, which is hard, since call center work is the most common work-from-home option for undergraduates, alongside ESL teaching and virtual assistance. These three are hard to enter these days, since although there is demand for employees, on-site work is still required. For now, I am still figuring out how to cope with this financial burden, as I pay for my own tuition and give myself a daily allowance. I am positive that I could get a good job so I can focus on my studies more without being unreasonably tired. I can get to the end of this, and I know the end will be beautiful and vibrant. Hopefully, soon, I can go back to work, a job that would be helpful for me as a college student.

By the way, when I was away, I also had some trips, mostly spontaneous, and I promise to share these trips with you tomorrow and in the coming days. Maybe you can get a good read from the travel blogs soon and love the places I have been to on the island of Cebu.

For now, I am leaving you here since I still have school work to finish. I really love writing for Hive again, and I hope I can do it consistently these days, just like before. Thank you for reading, my dearest Hivers. See you around.