Posted by Lorri on April 04, 1997 at 14:18:49:
In Reply to: career change? 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.
I'm a 36 year old mother of two, 3 & 7. I have only been a culinary arts student for a couple of weeks. I have waited a long time for this moment in my life, and I, too put alot of thought into. Mostly about the timeing. I am also fortunate that the school I have chosen alows me the opportunity to take classes according to my schedule, while the little noe is in preschool I take a couple of classes. It's been a long time since I have been a student, and I was very nervous. My question, is this. Why did you become a nurse? Did you have a passion that drove you to want to study that career field? Do you have that same passion for cooking? If the answer is yes, then I encourage you to not let five years of thinking about it turn into six. I live in the Houston area where Nurses are very scarce. A good nurse like you would receive top dollar. I'm sure they make more than the chef's in this area. But, if your not happy, does the money issue really make a difference. There's a pitcher who was offered 18 million to play with the Blue Jays. He turned it down for 8 million to pitch for the Twins. Why? He wanted to be near his family. Some ballplayers call him crazy, I'll call him a class act. H.A., I wish you all the best of luck with your decisions. Lorri.
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