We Can Do Anything, Except Hear: Pastry & Baking Arts Student Kaylie Whitmore Shares Her Journey To Graduation
This Friday, June 19, Kaylie Whitmore will join 800 fellow South Seattle College graduates in crossing the stage at Benaroya Hall, finally grasping that diploma, and feeling the love from the crowd as she raises her arms in victory.
"I'm just really excited to be done with school, and I want to share that experience with my family and friends," Kaylie, who is profoundly deaf, said with the assistance of an interpreter as we sat down in the Pastry & Baking Arts lab for an interview.
"I was born deaf," she explained, "but, I have a cochlear implant that helps me be aware of noises around me. I can hear voices but cannot fully understand, which is why I have an interpreter to help me."
Kaylie, now 20, will earn an Associate of Applied Science degree in Pastry and Baking Arts this Friday. To understand her journey to this point, we need to go back four years.
That Spark of Inspiration
"When I was 16 years old my mom asked me, out of the blue, if I'd like to help decorate a cake for fun, because she needed to decorate a cake for my cousin's wedding shower. So I went with her to a class to learn how … it was in the back of the store at Michael's (Arts and Crafts)," she recalled, seemingly reliving every detail.
"We took that class, and I fell in love."
Kaylie commandeered the wedding shower cake responsibilities immediately, "and then I told my mom that I have found my passion."
From that class on, it has been all determination. She spent the next year baking cakes for family members and word quickly spread. The next thing she knew, she was baking cakes for people she didn't know and ordering business cards. A business was forming at the hands of a young entrepreneur.
At 17, she received tough news: "I was diagnosed as a diabetic," she said, "but I didn't let that stop me because this really is my passion, and I wanted to do this in my life."
When asked what she loves so much about the art of cake decoration, she replied, "I just feel more focused, I pay attention to the art detail. I feel more myself when I do it."
To The Next Level
Yearning for more formal training before her business became too large, Kaylie decided to investigate culinary school. After visiting several options in the Puget Sound, she said she chose South because of the strength of the Pastry & Baking Arts program.
According to Pastry Chef Instructor Kimberly Smith, "Kaylie approached her Pastry & Baking Arts education knowing she wanted to get the most out of it. She came to her lab classes prepared to participate, curious to learn and willing to meet the demand of deadlines and due dates. Her success is a direct reflection of her 'can do' and 'why not me' attitude."
Kaylie works closely with South's Disability Support, who connect her with interpreters to help with learning the theories and techniques that fly through the kitchen like airborne flour.
"I have really good support from the disability office, and I have a really good counselor, Daniel, who helps me with everything," she said. "This school is very supportive of me; they make me comfortable with their help."
Most importantly, that support extends beyond campus.
"My family is very supportive," Kaylie said. "They were all for it (getting my degree), all for what I wanted in the future. They know that I don't let anything stop me from doing anything … like I want to open a cake business, and they are totally all for it."
Destiny Unfolding
Like any good entrepreneur, Kaylie has a long term plan that's already in motion. First was the degree from a program that she describes as a good fit for those "who really, really want to be a pastry chef, I mean, not just for fun. This is serious business." Next, she plans to enter the workforce at a bakery or pastry shop for more real world experience (and she already has interviews lined up). Finally, "I don't know, it might be 13 years before I'm ready, but I'll eventually open my own business."
Before letting Kaylie get back to her final week of studies, we shared a quote from last year's commencement keynote speaker, Derrick Coleman – a world champion Seattle Seahawk who has overcome hearing impairment in his own life.
"I will give it my all to succeed," Coleman said. "When people tell me I can't, it motivates me to try harder to prove to them ‘Yes I can.'"
"That's it!" Kaylie jumped in, slamming her fist into the table. "I feel like I can't let my deafness or my diabetes stop me from accomplishing my goals. If they say I can't, I can show them I can; just prove them wrong."
She then shared her favorite quote, speaking for all who are deaf or hard of hearing:
"We can do anything, except hear."
Kaylie asked to share the following: "I want to thank whoever helped me through this journey: The Disability Support office, Daniel Dillard (my counselor), the instructors, my interpreters, and, most importantly, my family, who has been the most supportive for my future."
From all of us at South Seattle College, congratulations to Kaylie and her fellow Class of 2015 graduates!