Bullets are being sprayed in the city nearby while she is spraying Pam on to a frying pan. Hungry soldiers coming off the battlefield will be excited and grateful to see her face after a fight. This is what she plans and hopes to do after she graduates.

With roots in the military, it makes sense that senior Shanice Allen wants to go into culinary for the service.

“My family is a military family,” Allen said. “It’s just that push. You feel like you have to do this, like something in your mind is telling you that you have to do this. That’s what it’s like for me.”

Allen made the decision to pursue a culinary career during her sophomore year. She has taken two culinary classes during high school so she could learn more about the world of cooking.

“Just with the whole recipe thing and trying to follow the recipe,” Allen said. “You just want to do your own thing.”

While she has a plan in preparation for what she wants to do in life, that is not the only thing she has prepared for. If her dream of doing culinary for the military doesn’t work out, she is equipped with a “Plan B,” working with family in Dallas at and airport.

“I plan to either go into the Army and do culinary and pursue my culinary service there,” Allen said. “If that doesn’t work out, then [I’ll] just work with my mom and my sister.”

Allen enjoys cooking not only for herself, but for other people as well. Her passionate feeling behind cooking comes from seeing others enjoy what she’s made and that warms her heart.

“It really means a lot because I love to see people smile and tell me that my cooking is good,” Allen said. “It’s just a good feeling.”