“I’m never scared of failure because legends must fall before they can rise” – Alex Chi

If you guys read “A little about me” you kinda know the general information about me. In this blog, I want to share my inspiration and drive that got me here in the first place. And oh boy it’s one crazy ride.

When I was in middle school, I had high expectations from my family. They wanted me to go to university to become a doctor, lawyer or engineer (you know, the typical Asian parents standards). However, I was never good at those related subjects in school.

It was also during that time that my grandma passed away from leukemia (blood cancer). She was a great inspiration because she was the cook and caretaker of my family. She taught me many of her favorite recipes and encouraged me to start cooking. During my senior year, I realized I’m pretty talented in cooking because I always love learning new recipes and being creative. When I told my parents I want to go to George Brown  College for their culinary and nutrition program, they were totally against it. Even most of my friends were against it, some of their concerns were:

• “Low income and bad hours”
• “Chef school and college= Living on the streets”
• “Being a cook is so easy. That’s why you’re going for it”

All I said to them is “Just watch me. I will prove you wrong”. After my high school graduation in September 2015 I was living by myself in Toronto. During my first year in culinary school, I was a full time student, juggling a full time job. I stopped all communication with my friends and hardly talked to my family except for holidays. I spent my whole first year off the radar and busting my butt off in the kitchen. When I came back home during the summer, everyone was amazed at how much I changed in just one year. It was that time people really respected how much work and dedication I put into the industry. People asked me for cooking advice, recipes, they even asked me to cook for them. I went from a lower-than-average high school kid to a stronger, ambitious cook. In the end, I dedicated this career to my grandma because without her I wouldn’t have been in this amazing spot. And this is just the beginning, things will get even better after this. I just hope I can do well in my career and make my grandma proud.