Steve: Hey Spud, are you a potato?

Spud: What did you just ask me, Steve?

Steve: I said, “Are you a potato?”

Spud: Just because my name is ‘Spud’ that doesn’t mean I'm a potato…

Steve: No, no, no. I know you’re human, Spud. But, I wanted to know if you’ve ever thought about yourself as a potato, buddy.

Spud: Well… I guess so. I never liked potatoes because of my name and my nicknames. People always called me Spudnick. My parents even –

Steve: Spud, I didn’t mean it like that!

Spud: Well then what did you mean?

Steve: I believe we’re all potatoes, er, or some variation of a potato product.

Spud: Hmm. So you think you’re a potato? And I’m a potato too?

Steve: Let me explain. Spud, you’re a first year college student; I was once a first year college student – with the whole horizon of experience before me. I could join any group I wanted too – social, extracurricular, and academic – you name it! The oven was hot, and the opportunities, seasonings ample. I didn’t know what I wanted to be. People would always tell me that I’d make a great lawyer. Sure, I liked to argue. I enjoyed reading, kind of. They told me what I could be, Spud; but it wasn’t until I came to college where I realized how plentiful the opportunities were for me to make something of myself.

Let me tell you, Spud, coming into University we are all blemished, dirty, and somewhat enlightened (and unenlightened) potatoes. Some of us are Yukon Golds, others are Russets, White Rose, Reds, Sweet Potatoes, Yams, or maybe even fingerlings. That’s our starting point. But the magic of a college education happens in the heat of the kitchen.

Spud, in the kitchen, that’s where we can become lawyers, doctors, teachers, artists, writers, nomads, priests, activists, idealists, politicians, dancers, athletes… anything, really. College, let alone life experience, makes us, the potatoes, into the potato products. I can come in, expecting to come out of the oven as a baked potato – suddenly realizing that I’d rather be mashed, or made into a nice au gratin.

Spud: Wow, I’ve never thought about it that way.

Steve: Well that’s just it! We can be fried, mashed, baked, peeled, or kept whole. And none of us is more or less potato than any other based on the cooking methods. Sure… some might be infused with oils and fats and seem to be tastier or eye catching, but we all have the option to make ourselves into the foodstuff that we feel most driven to be!

Spud: Well what kind of potato are you Steve? You’ve been here for two years, you should know what type of entrée you’re shaping up to be?

Steve: Spud… there comes a time in every potato's life where they need to sacrifice a part of themselves for a greater good. I haven’t exactly found my greater good. I don’t want to sell myself out to being sliced up, to be fried, just yet; nor do I want to mash everything I’ve got and put butter on top. I think I might just want to be a potato for a bit longer and learn a little more about my skin. See my nutrients. Know my flavor profile. Meet the cooks and the machinery that are drooling to bake and tear and peel and cut me up.

Sometimes I use to dream of a world where we could all just be potatoes – without any of the fancy chives or buttered toppings. But I think there is value in our flavor and preparatory distinctions… although I deny the need to rush into the oven or the cutting board. Spud, I want to know myself before I hop into the boiling water.

For a potato, there’s no going back. Each decision matters, and all who make those decisions for and with us are crucial to our presentation on the plate.

Spud: I heard the Yukons talking about going to the slicer later… it seems like everyone is ready to be chopped up and baked. I don’t know if that’s for me.

Steve: It doesn’t have to be – you can take time to explore your options, Spud!

Spud: Yeah, you’re right. But I feel confident in the fact that I want to be boiled. I’ve had this desire in me for a long time now. Seeing how everyone else wants to be fried or baked… it’s made me double think myself... but just now, what you’ve said about exploration – I haven’t really done that either!

Steve: Some of us know deep down what we think we’re meant to be or do or make ourselves into. The best thing you can do, Spud, is follow that root all the way to the ground and see what beauties and gold and dirt and worms and truths you can unearth. Who knows what you’ll find, but follow that gut feeling, Spud, not the kitchen’s ephemeral edict or the chef’s desire for the your starchy soul.

Spud: Thanks Steve. You’ll find your preparation some day soon.

Steve: You’re right, Spud. And who knows, maybe I already have, but perhaps I’m not ready to admit it or realize the moment of transformation.

Spud: We’re all potatoes, right? We’ve got our similarities. But we all have our different shapes and nuances, and especially, our own cook times.

Steve: Thanks Spud.