About Me: Whitney Weaver

Hey y'all!

I had a difficult time writing my "about me" section on my web site. Every time I have gone back to review my writing in an attempt to REDUCE the amount of text on the page, I end up adding another paragraph. So, I cut half of the page to be used for my first ever blog post.

As mentioned on my "about me" page, I grew up in Texas and moved to Utah when I was 18 years old - less than one month after I graduated from high school. I had enrolled in classes at Utah Valley University over the summer because tuition was cheaper. My senior year of high school was quite traumatic, so getting out of the house and being on my own was something I could hardly wait for.

So, I packed my tiny 1996 Nissan Maxima and moved to Utah. This was all during an extremely difficult time in my life: my brother had just had his leg amputated from cancer and I was questioning everything I ever thought I knew about myself. I started off going to school to be a 3D game designer - which didn't last long, once I took my first digital media class and learned of the tedious act of animation. I changed my mind about my major at least three times and made a lot of mistakes in my first couple years at college, but eventually was about to find a career path that I felt might fit me. I graduated with a bachelor's degree in business and marketing secondary education with a minor in digital media. I was going to be a business and digital media teacher.

But, wait a minute... this site is about cooking and baking. How does this all fit together?

Throughout my time in college, hardships with my family, and struggling through high school, I have always found passion and an escape in baking. I remember the first cake I ever made all by myself was a fourth of July cake when I was around 12 years old. I made a vanilla cake with whipped cream frosting and fresh blueberries and strawberries on top of the cake, designed like the U.S. flag. I was so excited that I was able to create something to share with others. This cake was delicious, beautiful, and I got to give it to my friends and family. The feeling you get when you see someone else appreciate something that gave you joy in creating is something that isn't always easy to find.

I have always had this dream of starting my own bakery, but there are so many other things that I love, including learning. I chose to be an educator for a few reasons. The main, obvious answer is to help kids. I had a really rough time in high school and I always hope that maybe I will be able to make things a little bit easier for my students. If I can help any of them get through hard times, I feel I have done my job correctly. I also chose to teach because I LOVE to learn! I knew that by becoming a teacher, I was also dedicating my life and my career to continuously learn new things.

After graduating from UVU in 2015, I started off as a business teacher, hoping to move towards digital media in the future. I was supposed to get an endorsement in Digital Media with my minor, but recently realized the reason I didn't get it was because I got a C- instead of a C in ONE CLASS. So frustrating - especially because I had finally brought my GPA up in my last two years of college, and I just turned in my final project a bit too late for my online 3D animation class... and that was the only thing holding me back from getting that endorsement. Oh well!

So truthfully - the start of this site was to be my "interactive project" to obtain my multimedia endorsement. It was created to display my digital skills. But after I started working on the web site - I realized maybe this will get me one step closer to the dream I have of opening my own bakery.

ANYWAY - after teaching mostly business classes during my first year of teaching, I accepted the new challenge of teaching photography, a new and relatively unknown subject to me, during my second year of teaching. I had taken a photography class in college and bought my first DSLR camera for my graduation present. I already had a strong interest in photography, so I was ecstatic to accept the position and learn more about the trade. In my fourth year of teaching, I unexpectedly accepted the position of Yearbook advisor, further expanding my teaching to grow into the skills I had always wanted: digital media, graphic design and publishing.

Somehow, baking and teaching seem to give me a similar sense of passion, and now, after five years of teaching, I feel like it's time to finally challenge myself a bit further with both. As a teacher, my next step is to obtain endorsements allowing me to teach multimedia and graphic design classes, which will entail multiple projects (including this web site) and furthering my education. As a baker, I have FINALLY purchased my first KitchenAid and I will plan on tracking my progress! Now I can combine ALL of my passions of photography, graphic design, baking, and education. And that's the reason this web site was created.

So... if anyone is reading this... it was nice to meet you. Let's do this thing!