As a child growing up I had all my friends who wanted to be firefighters and astronauts and anything else you could imagine and they changed their careers constantly...but not me! I had always wanted to be an English teacher. I loved to read and I also I loved creative writing. So since about the fourth grade I had my mind made up. I was going to be an English teacher. When I entered 8th grade we did a career search and interest survey to see what we would be good at. Sure enough...a teacher was one of my top results. It was exciting to know that while all my other friends were still uncertain about what they wanted to do, I had my career path set in stone. I knew what I wanted to do and how I was going to get there.
Well, for the next two or three years I still stood firm in the belief that I would become a teacher. It was a safe job without a lot of risk. The world would always need teachers. But then in April of 2006 I got a job at Town and Country in Willow Springs and I got my first taste of the work world. I liked my job well enough but the more I was there, the more I saw flaws in the system. I found myself saying, "Well if I ran this store, it would be a lot better." Don't get me wrong, I love my boss and he is great at what he does. When I was talking about the way things are run, I mean how the daily sales reports are recorded, how schedules are made, etc....I find a lot at Town and Country could be run much more efficiently and could be a lot more organized. Anyway....so as the summer of 2006 progressed, I found myself hating the idea of working for someone for the rest of my life. I wanted to be in charge of things and I wanted to run things the way I saw fit. I also realized that if I became a teacher, I would never be my own boss...but that wasn't enough to change my mind. Afterall, I had wanted to be an English teacher since fourth grade!
As I entered my Junior year and God bless her soul, I had good old Amaryllis Dyer as an English teacher and she loved grammar. Well, it didn't take me long to realize I hate grammar. lol We hardly did any creative writing at all. Was this what being an English teacher was all about? Endless grammar worksheets, spelling tests, and DGP....it all became so boring for me until one day I woke up and realized that I didn't want to be an English teacher anymore...and at first I will admit it....it scared the freaking hell out of me! lol I had no clue what I wanted to be anymore!.....but I couldn't see myself teaching the same things every year and even though the creative writing was fun....a big part of English is grammar! And combine that with the fact that I didn't want to work for anyone....I honestly could no longer see myself in the teaching field. I have a lot of respect for teachers....afterall they have got me to this point in my education so far where my possibilities are endless...but I no longer want to be one! lol
So with no clue what I wanted to be anymore I began to consider different options and what I loved to do. Well tattoos have always interested me...so why not a tattoo artist?...NO.....I hate needles and I couldn't stand inflicting pain on people....What about writing for the National Enquirer of World Weekly News....talk about creative writing! lol But no...this still wasn't it.
After a couple months of just looking at my options, one thing always kept coming to mind....I have always had a passion for food. I love to cook and I love to experiment with new ideas. But could this really be a career for me?...After a couple of months and a wonderful job shadowing experience at The Tower Club in Springfield...the answer was an overwhelming YES! I want to become a chef and own my own restaurant! So now I see that writing was just a hobby and so was reading but cooking is my passion! I love it! And getting to see what it was really like to be a chef during my job shadow only confirmed this. I worked my butt off that day and I was exhausted when I went home, but I loved every minute of it. Chef Lyons told me that becoming a chef means forfeiting a lot of your time but if you love something you won't care how long you have to do it each day. If you love it, it isn't a chore....it's fun! Chef Lyons also told me that he could tell from the minute I walked in that I had what it takes to become a chef...he knew that food was my passion. And I completely agree with him....I will do whatever it takes to become a successful chef and in ten years you can all come to my restaurant and enjoy a wonderful meal that I had fun cooking! :)
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1 comment:
I like food. Will you make me some?
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