Three years ago, I was feeling lost and old and unsure what to do with my life. One night I went online to gradschools.com and looked at every single option for continuing education in almost every single field.
I came upon Library Science. “Aha!” I exclaimed, convinced I had finally found my passion. I love books. Probably to an unhealthy degree. I love working with people. I love research. Logic dictates that I would therefore love Library Science. I started off by sending away for info from schools all across the U.S. Hawaii, New Jersey, Texas, even
Wisconsin. There weren’t many accredited schools in the Pacific Northwest, and I wasn’t too sold on the others, so I let my travel bug just put out some feelers for accredited schools abroad.
Found one.
In London.
I wrote essays, contacted professors from Pacific I hadn’t seen in 8 years, collected transcripts… I worked, hard.
And I got in. I was accepted to City University London to take my place for a year in the Master’s program.
Floating on air. I would go to school for a year, take out loans, buy some fake spectacles, put my hair in a bun, and start shushing people with my pointer finger pressed to my lips.
What could go wrong?
Plenty.
I ran into problems with my passport, with my social security card, with my name, with visas, with the school. I kept swimming upstream though, convinced I could make it in time for the 2008 school year. I’d need to legally change my name, apply for and receive a new passport, and obtain a new social security card before I could even think about my visa. I had about one month to do 3 months worth of work. Ever the fan of procrastination, I decided to stay in my beloved Portland one more year and actually give myself time to accomplish everything.
I was happy with my decision. Happy because I could bike around Portland in the summer, drunkenly attend Musicfest NW, go camping and hiking and swimming, move in with my dear friend freshly arrived from Alaska, spend more time exploring the city and the Gorge and the coast. Happy to spend some more time working at the BridgePort Ale House, continuing to learn the ins and outs of managing a restaurant. Happy to explore my growing passion for veganism in a city that seems made for it, happy to meet more people and drink more champagne cocktails.
Head down, I pressed on. Courthouses were visited, judges were presented, forms were filed, money was paid, things got done. Triumphant, I celebrated with a few champagne cocktails. I am now the proud owner of a passport with a passably cute photo (the joy!); my social security benefits will actually start accruing now that the government can track me; and my name actually matches on all my legal and non-legal documents. I am now legally Janessa Philemon-Kerp.
I continued puttering along, looking for scholarships, deducing how on earth I could take out $50,000 in loans, contentedly working my way toward London through the winter and into the spring of Portland.
One day in March I met up with some friends who own a bakery. Back to Eden had been up and running for about six months, with distribution to local grocery stores and coffee shops. Garrett specializes in… well, deliciousness. He makes the most amazing cupcakes, macaroons, scones, birthday cakes, and really anything that you think would be good is even more delicious in his hands. John manages and runs the whole operation. This little slice of vegan heaven was about to go big time. They decided to open a storefront. A storefront that would sell all these sassy baked goods; that would have a vegan softserve machine (YUM); that would feature harvested produce from their organic garden; that would be a community.
A lifelong baker with a passion for veganism, for people, and with marketing experience, I biked over on a Sunday with a notebook of ideas I had jotted down. This little idea session turned into a bright burst of talking, brainstorming, excitement, and possibilities.
My mind went wild. Do I want to go to school in London and work with computers and data retrieval? Do I want to change my life around completely, again, for a possibility of passion? Or would I rather stay in Portland, with my perfect fit just handed to me? I needed time to think it over.
Agonizing. When you work so long and so hard on life plans, it can be hard to let them go. Especially if it involves a foreign country, and excitement, and something different. But here was this opportunity to work with two close friends, to work for a cause that I truly believe in, to bake, to garden, to work with people, to spread the word of this delightful little bakery boutique. Basically, here was my passion plopped in my lap.
I took it. And I haven’t looked back. I’m still at the Ale House. My last day is August 8th. Truthfully, it will bittersweet. I’ve been with BridgePort for almost four years, and I couldn’t ask for a better place to have spent those years. I will be moving over to Alberta Street here in my beloved Portland. Back to Eden Bakery Boutique is open for business in mid-August. I will be a busy little bunny. A very happy busy little bunny.
I feel incredibly lucky to be in this town, to be utilizing my skills and talents in a way that seems custom-made for me, to have what I care about and believe strongly in fully reflected in my job.
So please, come August, stop in and see me, grab a cupcake or a savory treat, browse our books and handmade gifts, or just say hi. I will probably be behind the counter, peacefully lost in a good book.
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