Re: Mentoring: you will, regardless of your time at Sullivan, start out at the "bottom," often with minimal supervision or mentoring. Your time there is your mentor, you will learn what you need to learn from the guy grilling, as well as the guy cleaning the grill (even if it is you!). Your first forays may not be up close and personal with someone teaching you the ropes, and most kitchens don't afford that time anyway; again, the ropes and their burns are your mentors.
Don't get too hung up on finding that person(s). I thought I did, and went through more than one disappointment when they didn't live up to their game. It is all the little things that teach you to cook, and doing all the little things yourself, over and over, not just someone else.
Re: "challenging" your classes, yes you can bypass, but the problem with Sullivan is that, while they might have told Leah that it hadn't been done before, they might have said that because they had no idea of who has been
allowed to do what. Their bypass program is NOT set for all classes, and one administrator's word is useless against another- they don't even talk or refer to each other. So, while you can easily take a bypass for Culinary Math, Spanish, etc, (and yes, you do have to pay for the bypass tests,) I would NOT walk in assuming you can bypass anything. Their administration is so inconsistent and subjective that... well, I'd like to keep this clean.
Re: Homework: the homework is NOTHING. (Like Marsha said, the turnaround for Nights and Weekends is quicker than for Days, but still). The time it takes to actually learn these things, and to actually teach your hands to move the way you need to, is not included in your homework. It is this time that you carve into your schedule that can affect the rest of your life.
You can get straight A's (I did) and walk away without anything hammered into your head (I hope that I have something imbedded in there by now). Pretty much what I said earlier, if you want to really absorb, you have to spend alot of your own time, really just learning.
Everybody is making great points, points that I wish I had heard before I invested my savings, my job(s), my heart, and my youth. Your partner is an unwitting participant in this, and it is good that you are talking to your wife in this step, her support is paramount to your success.
For those who earned their bones before me, I don't usually "brag" or bring up my eons at S. Having seen many who manage to matriculate, I totally understand the chip against grads (and the many non-grads) and have been lucky to have worked with folks who are willing to overlook the blue bandana and realize that I really do just wanna learn. Not every place is going to be like that. The only way to earn your stripes, er bones, is to get in the pit. And like many have already said, it really helps when you are getting paid (even if peanuts, well, I like peanuts, and cake
).
While there may not be an opening now in your kitchen, believe me there will be, there always is. And while the chef and other cooks may not have time to hold your hands, we do recognize "the passion" in others, and you will get noticed, if you are willing to get your hands dirty.
To answer your fundamental question from my years there, I too was in a (secure, well-paying, long-earned) job that was going to eventually kill me. Sullivan served as my transition from that world into the (insert antonyms here) world that is food. If you are already in a restaurant environment, and your wife is along for the ride, take the prep and dish and ANY jobs you can get in the kitchen. After your own time frame, like Marsha said, then decide if a higher education is going to help you move further with your goals. My True Thing: follow your passion, remember your family priorities, and follow your passion. In that order.
Good luck!
