Going to U.C. Berkeley was a great experience. The students, the academia, the vibe of Berkeley were inspiring. It felt like I could accomplish anything…well that was in between those moments of despair struggling with an essay or a project. But for the most part, it was a typical college experience. I majored in accounting, finance and marketing and planned on working for one of the big public accounting firms. But in the back of my mind, I kept thinking of someday opening my own business. Ever since I can remember, I've always wanted to start and own my own business. I don't mean to sound cliché, but I do think the bug started when I had my first lemonade stand when I was around 7 years old in Oakland. We lived in the Lakeshore area with a lot of kids in the neighborhood. It was fun picking the lemons from our lemon tree and juicing the fruit. I don't think it tasted very good, but the adults were nice and bought from me anyways. I thought what a great idea; pick fruit, squeeze, add sugar and water and voila you got cash for it. Of course I didn't think it costs anything since I just got everything from my parents' kitchen for FREE. Those summer days always stayed in the back of my mind as I grew older. I always knew I wanted to start something, but didn't know what. Well, that would soon change once I graduated.

Why am I writing this blog? Because I love coffee!  I love the smell…I love the taste…I love the idea of coffee! I had my first taste of coffee when I was only 8 years old. My dad was visiting a friend at work and I was bored in the receptionist area. My dad told me I could go into the cafeteria and get something to drink and eat. When I went there I saw some people making a drink that I thought was hot chocolate, but it turned out to be coffee. It wasn’t the coffee that I drink these days…oh no, it came out of a jar in the form of brown crystals. They said I could drink it since it was decaf. It was Sanka. 

So, I felt very grown up and took a scoop of the curious brown crystals and mixed it with hot water. The first taste was quite bitter, but then they told me I should add sugar, so I put in one sugar cube and then another and another and by the 5^th sugar cube, the coffee was delicious. I was hooked on this thing called coffee. Unfortunately, when my dad came to get me in the cafeteria, he was not thrilled with my choice of beverage and told me that it was not intended for kids. So, that was my first and last coffee taste for quite a few years.

10 years later when I started college, I was introduced to the wonderful beverage again. I went to college in Berkeley, and everywhere I went I encountered to delicious aroma of this wonderful beverage. I started trying every café to find the best one. I was hooked and it became a daily habit.