Charlene

Generously Supported By: Individual from the Sprouts community
Age, at time of Internship: 16
CT Intern: Summer 2023
Restaurant Host: Mägo, Chef Mark Liberman
Referred By: Oakland Unified School District (OUSD)
Intern Story:

Charlene has enjoyed cooking for as long as she can remember. This passion turned out to be quite the necessary skill, as Charlene’s mom does not enjoy cooking and her grandma, who has historically cooked for the family, experienced a stroke and became unable to cook after her emergency. Charlene supplements her cooking knowledge with Youtube tutorials and recipes she finds online. Some of Charlene’s preferred recipes include BBQ, surf n’ turf, steak, and kimbap (Korean rice rolls). In 2023, Charlene received the opportunity to expand her knowledge of cooking even further when she joined the Sprouts Chef Training internship program. Charlene completed her internship at Mägo, under mentor Chef Mark Liberman. 

Throughout the course of her internship, Charlene learned how to julienne carrots and score squash. Since Mägo features a tasting menu, Charlene also had the opportunity to watch dishes being assembled during service and be brought to excited customers. Charlene appreciated the effort Chef Mark put into getting to know her, asking her questions about her music preferences even in the midst of preparing vegetables, and she grew to appreciate the family environment in the kitchen.  

Charlene’s variety of interests gives her lots of choices in what she plans to major in in college – the humanities, art, business, and culinary arts are possible options. Charlene plans on earning a business degree along with a culinary certificate so that she can open a restaurant that features in-season, sustainable ingredients with a focus on minimum-to-no waste. In the meantime, Charlene is involved in a variety of extracurricular activities including completing training in a peer mentorship program called “PeerForward” where she assists her peers in finding financial aid resources for college. Charlene additionally enjoys painting, especially sea creatures and koi fish. Charlene plans to continue to use her culinary skills, sense of responsibility, and ability to learn quickly to build the quality future she deserves.