No one knows the exact moment, that special place in time when it just clicks. You find yourself saying, “I love this!” and you never look back. While her father explained how to cook eggs, Sammi watched intently, knowing that this was her moment.

Samantha Kratzer was only 11-yrs-old when she discovered her passion for the Culinary Arts. While enrolled in Moon Valley High School’s CTE (Career and Technical education) Culinary Arts program, Sammi explored her newfound passion for cooking and baking while dreaming of one day opening her own specialty bake shop where gourmet cupcakes take center stage.

Instead of dreams, Sammi got a dose of reality through the annual Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) competition. C-CAP is a charitable organization dedicated to providing and promoting foodservice career opportunities. Since 1992, C-CAP Arizona has awarded $2 million in scholarships and awards.

As a semi-finalist, she competed against 109 students from Arizona. Each student was asked to prepare a French omelet in 15 min. and a cucumber and bell pepper salad in 35 min. After successfully completing her task, Sammi was awarded a scholarship to use towards the culinary school of her choice. She plans to attend the Art Institute of Phoenix upon graduating from Moon Valley High School in May 2010.

Now a finalist, Sammi remains calm, remembering the simplicity of that first egg while preparing for the final competition at the Arizona Culinary Institute. Contestants are required to make hunter’s chicken with sautéed potatoes, crêpes with crème and chocolate sauce. They have two hours to create two plates of each.

The final competition takes place on March 13 at 9 a.m. at the Arizona Culinary Institute. The awards breakfast is scheduled for March 15 at 9 a.m. at Skye Restaurant in Arrowhead.

Completing an internship is a right of passage for students on the path to success. At times they are paid, while others are not. Some are demanding, leaving those unfortunate students to question their career choice, while a select few encourage life-long professional passion within a fledgling scholar; such is the case with super star student, Sepideh Jafarzadeh.

As a young girl, Sepideh traveled from her native Iran, to another desert, a place that seemed to be in a galaxy far, far away, here in sunny Phoenix, AZ. Facing her freshman year, Sepideh took a proactive approach to her education and enrolled herself in an introductory CTE (Career and Technical Education) business class; it was love at first sight.

Sepideh’s love affair with the business world didn’t end there. She followed-up her initial interest by involving herself with CTSOs (career and technical student organizations) like DECA and FBLA.

Sepideh takes pride in managing a schedule that rivals prominent business executives. A to-do list that includes speaking engagements, organizational meetings, core class work and extracurricular activities is daunting to most, but Sepideh strikes a balance saying “ I love being busy and I love being involved.”

The ability to multitask comes from her innate desire to succeed, but also from the invaluable internship experience she received from working with American Family Insurance. Through her CTE Professional Internship Class, Sepideh achieved the skills that made her an enviable asset to local business owners. It was because of these skills that she became an integral part of the American Family team and proved that CTE classes prepare students to enter the workforce upon graduation.

With her high school graduation quickly approaching, Sepideh looks to the future. She anxiously awaits acceptance letters from some of the country’s top business schools. Even though “business is something I do for fun,” laughs Sepideh, she hopes to pursue complementary courses of study in engineering and marketing.