A Busy Start to the Year!

I recently completed the curriculum required for my Culinary Arts degree.  The only other obstacle I need to tackle is my internship, which I started in December.  I also took a position as a Chef Apprentice at a local, casual fine dining restaurant.  After the holidays were over, I started right in to full-time work, full-time school, and an internship.  It has been hard to juggle but I've already accomplished a lot in the first half of this quarter.

I had many choices for my internship but decided upon Winston's Restaurant in order to stay within the Sullivan system to continuing build my rapport throughout the University as well as to take advantage of the opportunity to work with Chef John Castro.  At Winston's, I do prep and work the saute station during service.  Although business is not as crazy as some of the restaurants I have worked in, I have benefited from Chef Castro's vast knowledge.  My diligence during downtime has paid off; I was offered the Sous Chef position.  While the offer was an honor, I had to turn it down as my schedule could not handle the requirements of the job right now.  Sometimes, it is difficult to turn down great opportunities but I believe it is better to have too many opportunities than none at all!

Last month, I posted about an event I worked at the end of November, a charity auction for The March of Dimes.  I got paired up with Chef Harold Baker, the Executive Chef of Gary's on Spring.  A few days after the event, he called me and offered me a Chef Apprentice position.  Once again, my hard work paid off.  Since then, I have worked under Chef Baker at Gary's.  I am mainly working in Pantry making salads, appetizers, and desserts but I have also been able to cross-train on the other stations.  I am definitely looking forward to seeing what else Gary's has to offer me.  It has been a great experience so far!

Other than juggling both jobs, I am continuing to work on my Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management. It is a little more difficult to get through the lecture classes when I no longer have my culinary labs every week, but I am working hard and getting through.  Every day, I am reminded of why I made the decision to go through the Culinary program at Sullivan University.

I leave you with a saying that has stuck with my since high school.  Our class had a slogan that we created freshman year and lived through senior year: "YOGOWYPI," pronounced "yo-go-whippy."  While it may sound silly when you say it out loud but the meaning is much more: "You Only Get Out What You Put In."  Remember that the next time you face a challenge.

Hayley Charron