Amany Abusalem is a senior at Argo. She was born in Illinois and stayed here until she was 6.

Then, when her dad got a teaching job at a university in Abu Dhabi, her family moved there until she was 15. In March 2020, she returned to the United States. Throughout all of the moving, one thing has stayed consistent: her love for baking.

We all have hobbies we love, but have you ever considered taking this hobby further? Amany has decided to

pursue baking as a career and has big goals for herself.

Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

What’s your favorite hobby?

My favorite hobby is definitely baking. I’ve been doing it for the longest time, and I can’t imagine not doing it. It’s a very peaceful activity for me.

When did you start baking?

I don’t exactly know. But my mom says that as soon as I started walking, I was in the kitchen just playing around. I would make her sauce sandwiches. I really started improving I’d say around freshman year. I started baking prettier, nicer stuff.

What kind of sandwiches would you make?

Sauce. Like mustard and ketchup.

What is your dream job?

Since I could remember, I’ve wanted to own my own bakery. So, if I could do that it would be amazing. I’m working towards it now.

What steps have you taken towards this goal?

I’ve taken Culinary 1 [at Argo] so far, but I didn’t really get much out of it. I practice a lot at home. I Google different recipes and try out different ones. I make my own meringues, truffles, cakes, etc.

I try my best to come up with my own recipes as well.

When did you decide you wanted to pursue this hobby as a career?

Honestly, in the past few months. I always thought that I was just going to leave [baking] to the side. My family and friends have been encouraging me to do this and make money out of it. They started convincing me and then I started convincing myself that this would be a cool thing for me to do. I realized that it was possible. Moraine is 10 minutes away from my house so if I do culinary school over there, I can get the practice that I need. I could also take business classes in order to open up my own business. It wouldn’t be as hard as I made it out to be.

Are you worried about taking this risk?

Kind of. Honestly, even if I fail, I don’t care because I know that I’m going to succeed eventually. This is what I want to do. It’s my passion, so there’s nothing that could happen that could stop me from doing it.

What would you tell someone thinking about pursuing their dream job?

If it’s your dream job and you’re truly passionate about it, just go for it. You only live for so long. You only have so much energy in your life to give to something. The sooner you start, the sooner it can happen. Just go for it. No matter what happens, don’t stop.