Foodie
1931
Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:09 pm
The rolling acres of Henry County
Laura T wrote:I dream of cake.
Chris Dunn wrote:Laura T wrote:I dream of cake.
Don't we all?
Marsha L. wrote:Thanks, everybody. Listen, I love what I do and I've never regretted for a minute changing careers - working at a desk would have sucked all the life out of me by now. And I really don't regret going to culinary school - it was a blast, and I've always loved going to school and am an excellent student.
I just wish I didn't owe the money. Sullivan is a well-respected school in the culinary industry - among other culinary schools, and among people that teach at other culinary schools. But in my view, it's too expensive. And going there did not increase my earning power. Nothing but first hand experience does that. Sure, I learned some neat things, and (importantly) gained a lot of technical/historical/interesting food-nerd brand knowledge that I might never have learned in a restaurant, but all the practical stuff they teach you can be learned on the job - while you're getting paid, instead of paying them.
So, Chris, my advice to you is: do it! Take the plunge and go to work in a kitchen, and if after you've worked in a kitchen for two years, borrowing the money to go to school still seems like something you want to do, well, there you go. It'll still be there!
Changing careers feels like jumping off a cliff - dangerous and thrilling. You might be poor, but you'll never be sorry.
Leah s wrote:I will echo what everyone else has said. I did graduate from Sullivan with a Summa (flips hair) Cum Laude degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. However, my situation was/is pretty unique. First, I knew I was walking back into my own business and taking it in a new direction. I was pretty sure that having that "paper" was gonna help and frankly it has. In my very specialized small corner of the industry, being a degreed pastry chef sets me apart and augments my marketing. I was also fortunate in that I didn't have to take out any loans. Very fortunate.
So my first advice, is know where you want to be after you graduate and why/how going to culinary school will help.
My second piece of advice is something Marsha brought up and is always my advice too. Challenge everything you hear. ALL classes can be taken by challenge test. I challenged (and passed) a baking class and a baking lab. When I asked about whether or not I could challenge, I got the answer, it's never been done. So I was the first. I locked myself in my office for the weekend and taught myself Access via an Access for Dummies book, learned just enough (I already knew Word and Excel) and passed a challenge test for the keyboarding class. I had already had two years of college level French which I successfuly argued was the language of cooking and should be accepted in lieu of the one semester of culinary Spanish required. And on and on. I challenged many classes. The advantage is that then you don't have to pay tuition for them.
Also look at the pricing structure. If it's by the semester, then take as much as you can - like 20 credit hours. 24 if you can take it. You can sleep later in life. The idea is to get through as fast as you can to minimize costs. Everything is negotiable. Everything.
The other thing that I have to point out from a fellow mid(late)-career changer, is that you will be going to school with people that are much, and in my case, much, much younger. It's interesting. They will do some laughable things in the kitchen. They will be hung over. They will say some outraegous things and ask questions that will just make you shake your head in wonder. They each believe in their heart that they're gonna be the Next Food Network Star. And you'll meet some fellow students who are passionate about food and the craft of food and who will one day actually be a star. And it will be nice to have known them in school, so make friends with everybody. Everybody.
My final advice is, know where you want to be when you're done. And then decide if the process - this process of culinary school - is how to get there. For me, it was the shortest distance between the two points.
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