Posted by Heatherann Cundiff on April 03, 1997 at 19:38:43:
Hi everyone,Here's the deal: I'm 31 and thinking of a career change. I'm currently a registered nurse working in an I.C.U., so I know about long hours, heavy lifting, hard work, and most of all STRESS. I will be attending career exploration for a week at C.I.A. later this year. But, I have tons of qustions. 1) Am I too old to start this? ( I hear you have to be in the kitchen twenty years before you can start to THINK about calling yourself a chef.) 2)Am I good enough?(I have NO experience of any kind in a professional kitchen. But I'm not exactly a dabbling hausfrau. Got the KitchenAid Pro mixer, in cobalt blue. Everyone raves about my cooking, but that's a far cry from chef - maybe I should just stay home impressing family, coworkers and the occasional stranger). 3)Are most chefs backbiting prima donnas?(I have an awful lot of those in my current job, so I'm sure I could take it, but it certainly isn't any fun). 4)Are those black and white checked pants for real? (And I thought nurses' uniforms were awful). 5)Cooking schools(What are the primary differences, are there some to avoid at any cost? I've gotten info from C.I.A. and Johnson and Wales. Pros/cons? Where else should I consider?) Etc.,Etc., Etc. This is something I've been thinking about for about five years and am just now starting to seriously look into. I can come up with as many reasons to talk myself out of it as into it. Husband says he'll support whatever choice I make, :) so he's no help in making up my mind. Any help with this mess would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance
chef wannabe
H.A.