Cooking is a skill that I have always had an interest in learning. When I decided to take on the challenge of teaching myself how to cook, I underestimated its complexity. Although I came across many obstacles, I was able to overcome these obstacles with patience, persistence, and the desire to achieve my goal. Throughout my learning process, I found that the knowledge of my peak learning times, how I most enjoy learning new skills, and my personal intelligences were all helpful in achieving my goal. However, the knowledge of how I tackle new topics was not helpful to my self- directed learning project.Upon first receiving the self-directed learning assignment, I was not sure what I wanted to learn. Most of the skills that I had an interest in learning either would have taken longer than a single semester to learn or would have required an instructor. For example, the ideas that came into my head upon receiving the assignment were belly-dancing, salsa dancing, playing the piano, et cetera. Learning how to dance would have required that I had an instructor or dance partner, while learning how to play the piano would have required a greater amount of time.After examining several different options, I decided that cooking would be an excellent skill to learn for my self-directed learning project because it would be far more useful in my future than any of the other options. I will be moving to the east coast soon after I graduate, which means that I will no longer have my mother cooking for me. In addition, I will not be able to afford to eat out for three meals a day, every day, and I certainly do not want to survive on Ramen noodles. Second, little is more satisfying to me than delectable food. I have always enjoyed going out to dinner and lunch and taking in all of the amazing tastes that these chefs create. I wanted to be able to create that same satisfaction for myself at any time. I also chose to teach myself how to cook because it is a skill that I admire in others and I knew that if I was able to learn this skill that I would be so proud of myself, especially considering that cooking is particularly challenging to me.However, I decide to add a twist to learning how to cook. I did not have much of an interest in making American foods; instead, I only wanted to learn how to make exotic foods. I have always thought of American food as being boring and bland in comparison to Italian or Greek food. When I was little, my mother found it practically impossible to cook for me. I was somewhat unusual and did not like the foods that other children liked. The thought of macaroni and cheese made me sick. I preferred food like hummus and gyros. Although this led to much frustration for my mother, she found it extremely interesting that I had this taste for different cultures that other children did not possess.One of my greatest challenges in learning this skill was not the skill itself, but rather acquiring the necessary resources required to achieve my...
