Rosemary Chesney, Campus Carrier arts and living editor
A baking interest group has been in the works at Berry for the past few weeks. If passed as an interest group, this group will gather for both experienced and non-experienced bakers alike to meet, make food and enjoy each other’s company.
Sophomore Hayden Brackett met with sophomore Melissa Perez a few weeks ago about starting this club together. Since then, Lecturer of Communication Matthew Delzer has agreed to be their faculty sponsor, about 20 other students expressed interest in the club and they are contacting Director of Student Activities Cecily Crow about confirming it as an interest group.
“I just think it’s really sweet to have people meet together on the pretense of making yummy things and sharing it with others,” Brackett said.
If confirmed Perez said that the group would meet up once a month, most likely on the weekends or Fridays. Perez and Hayden are working on a location for the group, but Perez said the most desirable option for her would be the Ford kitchens. She also said they would potentially do a bake sale after meeting up.
“Whether you love baking or have never baked before, baking club is for everyone,” Perez said. “It’s just a fun little journey Hayden and I are going on to make this comforting community.”
While Perez said she began baking as early as elementary school, she said that she focused on baking in high school as a way of relieving stress from what she was experiencing from school. Brackett also said that there can be a mental health benefit to baking.
“I think baking is definitely underrated in terms of an outlet for stress,” Perez said. “It gives you a moment to control your surroundings, which can alleviate stress because for the most part in college you do not have a lot of control.”
Brackett said that he also enjoys baking because it gives him a chance to be creative while still following the structure of a recipe. Both Brackett and Perez said that the goal of this potential interest group is to have a no judgment, sweet community for people.
“Baking establishes a community and builds relationships,” Perez said. “It’s so much more than food because you’re getting to interact with other people. Baking club is something that everyone can be a part of regardless of experience.”
Some of the obstacles to creating a baking club include finding the place to hold meetings, figuring out funding for the materials and seeing how to logistically do a baking sale, according to Brackett and Perez. Perez said they are hoping for the ford kitchens but may end up having to use a common room. More details about the baking interest group will be available after the meeting with Crow, according to Brackett.