I frequently get asked the question: so why culinary school? For the longest time I didn't really know, until I started putting all the pieces together. Now it makes perfect sense and I'm actually surprised I didn't figure it out sooner. So here it is:
Some of my earliest memories are those helping my dad either baking or making dinner. I would don an apron, drag my chair to the counter, and help him with whatever he was making. I got to read the recipes, crack eggs, pour in the liquids, whatever the case may be.
Then came the time we finally had cable t.v. I probably spent the majority of that summer watching the Food Network. It was all I cared about, even more so than the Disney Channel(which for my 12 year old self was a big deal). I loved not only baking shows, but culinary ones as well.
Next came my business. After watching the Food Network I started to collect cookbooks, and most of them were cookie cook books(this was pre- cupcake obsession). I thought it would be really neat to bake different cookies, package them real nice, and sell them in gift baskets. I went to tell my Mom my great idea half expecting her to say no. To my absolute surprise she said it was a great idea! So there I was, in eighth grade about to start my own business. Initially I had wanted to rent a commercial kitchen to do all the baking, but that would have been quite expensive. Instead, with the help of Mom and Dad, we made it work in our tiny home kitchen. I ordered really cute Christmas packaging and started working on order forms. I half expected my Mom to even let me start a project of this size, but let me tell you never in my wildest imagination did I ever think anyone would want to buy them. Then the orders started coming in. I had people that I never met before calling because they had heard from someone who had heard from someone else. It was insane! To say I was overwhelmed would be a giant understatement. It ended up being a great experience though and I continued with it all the way through high school. I even had orders throughout the year, not just at Christmas time.
Around the same time, I received cake decorating lessons for Christmas. They were for the Wilton program at Michael's. So every Monday after school my Mom would drive me up to Michael's for a couple hours. I completed all three sessions that they had available. It was probably the best and most rewarding Christmas present I have ever received.
At this point in my life, 8th grade, I seriously considered going to culinary school. However, as I worked my way through high school and developed friendships with new people it wasn't so much a priority anymore. I didn't think of it as a career, just more of a hobby. I wanted to go to "real" college with the whole "college experience" meaning a football team with Friday night games, a big campus, dorm living, etc. I didn't even know what I wanted to major in. All through high school I would jump back and forth between different possibilities. In fact, I even changed my major the same day I registered for classes at Grand Valley. I eventually decided to be a Bio Medical Sciences major with an emphasis in nutrition.
It was at GV that I realized I was in the wrong place. I was taking a class for the Honors program called Live, Learn, Lead. We were doing a segment on our strengths and weaknesses. One of the assignments was to map out our strengths not according to how good we were, or what other people have said to us, but about what we truly love to do. I couldn't really come up with anything significant besides soccer and it upset me. Then, on the strangest of occasions it hit me like a ton of bricks. BAM! I had an epiphany in the car driving home from Chicago Thanksgiving weekend. I thought to myself, self what about culinary school? It came out of nowhere, and I mean nowhere. I was so confused about what I was doing with my life and I felt as though I was wasting my time at Grand Valley. After that moment, the idea stuck and grew until I knew that I had to leave.
Initially I was worried what people might think. I didn't want them to think I failed out of college(although it's a running joke among my friends that I was too dumb for college) or that I was just going to be lazy and live at home forever. My parents and friends convinced me that it really didn't matter what other people thought, and that I needed to do what made me happy.
And there you have it, my complete journey leading me to culinary school. I don't regret going to GV, in fact it's because of the class I took there that I discovered what I'm truly passionate about. I enjoyed my time at "real" college and made some amazing friends in the process. But I'm enjoying my time here even more. It's definitely where I belong(:
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