What do you want to be when you grow up?
What is your major?
What are you doing after graduation?
Ohhh, I HATED those questions!
Why, you ask?
Well, that's because
I had no idea
what I wanted to do, major in
or was even interested in!
All I knew was that I
hated math
couldn't work retail anymore
and loved good food!
So, the natural progression
towards culinary school
happened ... but,
not before 3 key events:
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3. While I was in college, I worked in several different retail stores including American Eagle, Victoria Secret and Books-A-Million. I LOVED working at AE - my co-workers were great, the management was super laid back and I got a 60% discount on clothes! Oh heck yes!! But, when management changed hands to a hormonal psycho, I headed over to VS. Wow; possibly the worst company to work for!! They're pressure tactics were more than I could handle and I didn't stay there long. {Yea, next time the girl checking you out keeps on and on about their credit card, don't blame her. She's just trying to keep her job.} I ended up at Books-A-Million and as an English major at the time, it only seemed like the perfect fit! Honestly, it wasn't that terrible {not anything like VS} - but after dealing with overly rude tourists year in and year out + an 80 year old stalker {that's a story for another time}, I decided I needed to find something that more fitted my personality! I'm just not perky!
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2. Okay, this is a ridiculously sad story, that I debated even sharing because it's just THAT embarrassing! I want to start with the statement that I would love nothing more than to be a math nerd. People with the kind of brain that can not only understand Calculus, but also USE it are like superheros to me ... really, I'm like totally jealous! So, I took my first ever Calculus course in my 3rd semester of college. I attended every class for three weeks ... took extensive notes ... even completed homework and studied for the first test. I remember sitting down at my desk the morning of, looking down at the symbols on the quiz paper and going to work on it. I filled in every blank with an answer I believed to be true and turned it in thinking I hadn't done half bad. Well, I couldn't have been any.more.wrong - the next class period started with the professor handing out our grades, mine being a big, fat goose egg! Oh, yeah...I told you it was embarrassing! I filled in every single blank on that paper and received a Z-E-R-O! At that moment, I stood from my seat, politely excused myself and marched right down to my adviser's office and changed my major to anything that didn't require Calculus. {I was a German major who went to Political Science with a minor in German [which required said Calc class] ... changed to English for 3 more semesters and ultimately ended at Culinary. Long road, but so worth it!}
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1. And, the number one reason I ultimately needed culinary in my life was because food went from simply sustaining my life to being my life. After graduating high school, I flew off to Europe to learn more about the German culture and language ... I ended up learning what food and drink did for friends. So much revolved around food there - festivals, holidays, celebrations, sorrows and even just the every day lunch hour. {Which was 2 hours long!} I learned a lot about hospitality over there and the healing power of gathering around a long, 14 person table to share family-style dishes, luke-warm beer and stories. We Americans at the school I attended often laughed at how many national holidays Germany had, but looking back they knew how to live! And, food was front and center for each one - Europe taught me the level of importance food has in so many people's lives. There's really nothing out there more attractive than coming together with friends for good food and fun times!
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I am so very grateful
for each moment
that led me to this profession!
I couldn't imagine doing anything else!
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