Global Perspective Spotlight: Gaining skills in professional patisserie-making at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine, with Ann Goulian ’25

News & Spotlights | June 27, 2023

Ann Goulian ’25, on right, with classmates from the patisserie course in Edinburgh.

To launch her Global Perspective summer, Ann Goulian ’25 took a six-week course for a professional patisserie certificate at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine in Edinburgh, Scotland.

“I’ve always been a hobby baker and cook and hope to use my experience here to work for a bakery in Chapel Hill next year,” the scholar said.

Her favorite part of the course was learning the techniques for making soufflés, puff pastry and Viennoiserie dough for croissants, and bread doughs for pretzels and bagels.

Creations by Ann Goulian ’25 at the Edinburgh School on Food and Wine.

Ann chose to live in the city center for the duration of the course, commuting to the countryside in the east of Edinburgh for classes.

“I loved exploring the city’s incredible food scene and cultural sites like Edinburgh Castle, Arthur’s Seat, and historic cemeteries,” Ann said.

Following the course, the scholar will shadow the head of a prison reform nonprofit in Yerevan, Armenia, through the Lovelace Fund for Discovery.

Learn more about Ann’s Global Perspective experience.

The Global Perspective summer is an opportunity to conduct an independent research project or learn about a new sector or part of the world through a more traditional internship.

Learn more about the Morehead-Cain Summer Enrichment Program.

From the Himalayas to Capitol Hill

Ann with fellow hikers on a NOLS India course through the Himalayas.

Before this summer, Ann took a one-year stop out from the Program (unfunded by the Morehead-Cain). The scholar traveled to the high reaches of the Himalayas, took a job at a lightship-turned-restaurant, and did an internship in public defense on Capitol Hill.

She began the year studying abroad in Athens, Greece.

She then traveled solo along the coast of the Adriatic Sea into Western Europe to meet up with friends.

That fall, Ann took a backpacking course through the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in the Himalayas.

The NOLS Himalaya backpacking course is a 35-day course that takes groups through the Kumaon and Eastern Garhwal regions in India, high mountain passes, and remote villages.

Next, she headed to Rotterdam, Netherlands, to live and work in a restaurant and music venue owned and operated by Bronte Flecker ’98. The establishment is a refurbished floating lighthouse.

Ann worked as a barista, waitress, and line cook on the boat.

Vessel 11, a refurbished lightship and restaurant owned by Brontë Flecker ’98 and Jan Visser.

Finally, in spring 2023, she moved to Washington, D.C., to intern for the Special Litigation Division of the Public Defender Service.

Ann at her internship in Washington, D.C.

The scholar assisted in investigations for cases under the D.C. Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act.