SYB’s First Student – Alumni Discussion Forum

Since its inception, Shanghai Young Bakers has trained and nurtured over 200 students.  In order to establish a way to encourage sharing and communication, SYB brought together graduate students, current students, and teachers for its first ever Student – Alumni Discussion Forum.  Bringing all three parties together helped the soon-to-graduate students organize their thoughts, set feasible career goals, and adopt the right attitude about work.

The alumni expressed their views on the current state of the baking industry and its ongoing development.  They also shared advice gained from many years of work experience.

The alumni brought cakes and pastries from their places of employment to the meeting.  The students got to taste the products and listen to the alumni introduce and describe the special characteristics of each. The students asked many questions and the alumni all replied in extensive detail.  Not only were the students lucky enough to taste a wide variety of delicious products, they were also treated to professional-level teaching!

In the pictures below are a few of the cakes and pastries shared at the meeting.

The alumni were sincere and honest.  Their words were not only moving, but had real practical value too.  The young students listened with great interest, hoping to absorb a little bit of knowledge from the experience of the previous generation.

Since today’s event was to encourage two-way communication, the students were asked to judge the alumni’s breads, pastries, and presentations. There were no strict standards for judging, the students simply voted for the products they liked best.  The teachers were really surprised with the students’ high level of interest throughout the meeting.

Shanghai Young Bakers will continue to care about and monitor the development of its alumni.  Today’s meeting was proof that 9 years of training have brought real benefits to the lives of many young people.  SYB’s success could not have been achieved without the concern and support of a wide range of people.  We will continue to work hard and strive to improve the quality of our training program and provide development opportunities to even more youths in the years ahead.

Xiao Jinjin

Social Enterprise