Below is a brief interview of the NJIT CARP club vice pres Satoe Ozawa, who pulled the whole thing together:
How did you come up with that idea and why was it needed?
I just wanted our Carp team to become closer as a family, so I wanted to do something fun but that was productive as well. I stumbled upon cake pops by chance as I was searching the internet on creative goodies we could sell. I didn’t want us to do a regular bake sale like everyone else.
We needed the money because we need funds for our next event. For the first event we did last semester (I hope you remember it! click here in case you don’t), Nolan had to pay out of pocket to provide food and I thought that it was not fair for him. As one of the Z (lowest) ranked clubs, apparently we are not given funding from the school, so we needed to make the money ourselves.
However, my main focus was for our group members to break out of their shell. Most of our carpies are very shy. I wanted to give them an opportunity to become closer together in a relaxed environment and baking together served that purpose well.
Who did the baking?
Almost every member of our Carp group. Some could not make it due to various reasons. In total, I think we had about 8 people come.
How much time and effort did it involve?
Well, the whole baking process took about 5 hours. Before we got to that point, I had everyone create a design and submit it to me. I examined each design, chose a couple, and had to plan out how each was to be made and the ingredients that would be needed.
What did you have to do to make it happen at NJIT?
Making it happen was actually the easiest part. NJIT has a website that has a calendar with all the activities that are going on each day. So all I had to do was look for a date that did not have a bake sale going on, fill out some papers to reserve a table, submit them and I received a confirmation e-mail that very day.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how delicious were the cake pops?
Unfortunately, I did not try any of the cake pops, but I was informed that they were very good. In fact, we had a couple of people buy one, eat it, and then come back to buy another one!
[testimonial from club pres, Nolan Ching, re: the cake pops: “I had a cake pop – it was # 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, especially after a few hours of selling them to other people”]
Tell us about yourself.
So a little about me. I am a Biology major and currently a Freshman (Class of 2015). I am from Nutley, New Jersey. The thing I like most about NJIT is the individual attention they give to each student. It is a small school, so all the professors encourage their students to visit them at their offices out of class if we are struggling. Also, NJIT offers great opportunities to network and make great connections with outside businesses and renowned companies.
Sincerely, Satoe Ozawa