It’s January and I’m sitting watching the traffic and the complex roundabout that resides in the distance. Whilst most see grey traffic with blurs of red brake lights, I see time; green…160 seconds, amber, red. Tarmac. There’s a burst pipe and one lane’s closed, that’s caused the unexpected traffic at this time. It’s foggy and the weather’s…well English. The lights just aren’t good enough. I glance at my lap and peer at the university prospectus, there isn’t one Engineering course in any of them that excite me the way the real life situation does. “I don’t want to do it anymore.” Engineering has been my goal and I’ve geared everything towards it until now.
It’s Monday and we have just had another year group meeting about UCAS and options and statements and I’m standing here feeling completely detached from this phase of our lives because the engineering course I so greatly dreamed of is not what I want anymore. I’ve always loved baking and I’ve seen a few 1-year courses in London, so I will do that until I figure it out. Come interview day, I’m all prepped and hoping that I get on this NVQ…2 calls and 40 minutes later I’ve done better than get the NVQ, they offered me the full Culinary Arts Management Bsc and said the place is mine if I want it. Fast-forward to results day and it’s Engineering vs. Culinary Arts, “Un-ayy” life in Loughborough vs. London.
Culinary Arts got it! To say that people weren’t disappointed and everyone was supportive wouldn’t be truthful but a few weeks into the course, that changed when they realised I wasn’t just cooking all day everyday. I was only physically in the kitchen 1 day a week. The rest I hear you ask? Theory: Food Microbiology, Statistics, Accounting and so forth. One thing about the course would be that the minute you attend your first class is the minute you step into the Hospitality Industry. If you’re not prepared to throw yourself into the relevant workplace in your first year, then maybe you’re not truly committed. You can tell the chefs from the front of house and those that want to follow one of the other many paths, but the best thing about my course is the drive you get from the lecturers, your peers and surprisingly yourself. Being a chef is no easy walk with lights and stars from the TV, you have to be a little crazy to want to do a 15hr kitchen shift. You’ll very quickly learn whether you’ve got that crazy in there somewhere and if you do then you’ll find yourself a second family in the kitchen. Getting up at 6am and getting home at 12am is no longer daunting and well if at the end of it all you no longer want to be a chef, then a 9-5 will be a walk in the park; but for me…that buzz of service and team of heated humans is home.
It’s Monday and we have just had another year group meeting about UCAS and options and statements and I’m standing here feeling completely detached from this phase of our lives because the engineering course I so greatly dreamed of is not what I want anymore. I’ve always loved baking and I’ve seen a few 1-year courses in London, so I will do that until I figure it out. Come interview day, I’m all prepped and hoping that I get on this NVQ…2 calls and 40 minutes later I’ve done better than get the NVQ, they offered me the full Culinary Arts Management Bsc and said the place is mine if I want it. Fast-forward to results day and it’s Engineering vs. Culinary Arts, “Un-ayy” life in Loughborough vs. London.
Culinary Arts got it! To say that people weren’t disappointed and everyone was supportive wouldn’t be truthful but a few weeks into the course, that changed when they realised I wasn’t just cooking all day everyday. I was only physically in the kitchen 1 day a week. The rest I hear you ask? Theory: Food Microbiology, Statistics, Accounting and so forth. One thing about the course would be that the minute you attend your first class is the minute you step into the Hospitality Industry. If you’re not prepared to throw yourself into the relevant workplace in your first year, then maybe you’re not truly committed. You can tell the chefs from the front of house and those that want to follow one of the other many paths, but the best thing about my course is the drive you get from the lecturers, your peers and surprisingly yourself. Being a chef is no easy walk with lights and stars from the TV, you have to be a little crazy to want to do a 15hr kitchen shift. You’ll very quickly learn whether you’ve got that crazy in there somewhere and if you do then you’ll find yourself a second family in the kitchen. Getting up at 6am and getting home at 12am is no longer daunting and well if at the end of it all you no longer want to be a chef, then a 9-5 will be a walk in the park; but for me…that buzz of service and team of heated humans is home.
The End
So there's my little story and if you think you might even be a little bit passionate about something the same way I am, trust your gut.