Finding Community in Cooking Class
By Paul David Mercier on February 13, 2026
On Wednesday evening, I joined a group facilitated by NAITSA for a cooking class at Caffe Sorrentino. I went expecting to learn how to make calzones and pizza. Finding community with everyone who attended the class was the happy surprise.
We started the event by gathering at the NAITSA office on campus and shuttled out in a convoy of Uber rides to Sorrentino’s on 109 Street and 107 Avenue.
We were greeted by friendly staff who welcomed us into their kitchen and led us through a step-by-step process of preparing our own dough and ingredients. We worked together in pairs. My cooking partner was Steve from the BBA program.
There was laughter and happy conversation as our culinary coach Laura guided us in making beautiful golden-brown calzones and bubbling, fragrant pizzas.
(above: my cooking pal Steve shows off our pizza prowess. photo: P. D. Mercier)
We all responded with oohs and ahs at our delicious creations, then sat down in the dining area to enjoy the fruits of our labour. The friendly Sorrentino’s staff treated us to some moist creamy delicious tiramisu for a sweet finish to our adventure. We even got to take home our leftovers and extra ingredients we prepared in class for tomorrow’s home-cooked creation based on what we had just learned!
(above: Katrina re-imagines the kid with the fish from Finding Nemo. photo: P. D. Mercier)
Overall, the expected outcome of learning how to make new recipes was fulfilled. Making some new friends on campus from various programs was the happy surprise bonus. Shout out to my fellow calzone-pizza comrades!
You might consider joining an activity like this. There are plenty of ways to find community through the Ookslife app and website. These events are designed to help us make memories beyond classes and labs during our time at NAIT. I know that I will be looking for my next cooking class event (which, by the way, is coming up in March). I encourage you to consider where you might find your community by searching through Ookslife for things you could try.