Since 2019 is coming to an end. I wanted to share with you some of my favorite moments from the past 10 years. From all my past successes and accomplishments, to my all time lows. Here is my decade rewind.

2010: on April 20, my grandma passed away. I was absolutely devastated because she was a pillar in my life and in my family. After that, I wasn’t taking good care of myself. I stopped going out as much, stayed home and playing video games most of the time and wasn’t taking good care of my health.

2011: Nothing really happened much that year other than graduating from middle school. Oh yea! I fell in love with music. It’s probably one of the few ways I express myself and temporarily escape from reality (favorite artists are Michael Buble, and Owl City at that time).

2012: 2012 was the first year of high school for me. To be truly honest, I’m not really the smartest kid in the class. I just get marks that are good enough so that I don’t look like an idiot. I was pretty lost at that time. Teens at that time have their high school plan sorted out and maybe their post secondary plan too. For me, I had a ton of options; which is good and bad at the same time.

2013: This year was one of my best years I’ve had. I went out with my girlfriend, fell in love and called it official. (I don’t know how to word it. Hopefully my editor can make it less cringy).  I also got baptized at church, my marks were getting better and my health was getting much better. Everything was falling into place and I thought I had everything and life was perfect.

2014: I finally decided where I want to go for post secondary and what I wanted to do. I was to work in the food industry as a nutritionist. It was also during that time, I want to study stuff outside of school like going to nutrition conferences, reading books and articles. Besides work, I helped out at my parents’ bakery every weekend or so. Whenever I had free time.

2015: Grade 12 was my final year of high school. So I want to give it my all. I helped out at my parents’ bakery, applied to colleges and busted my ass off in school. What I haven’t done was spend time with my friends, family and my girlfriend. That ended up with me almost losing my closest friends and my relationship with my girlfriend. I have never felt so shit in my life because it was all my fault. I nearly lost everything. What I should’ve done was to keep them in touch at least twice a week so it didn’t feel like I wasn’t avoiding them. A couple months after that, my grandfather passed away. It wasn’t affecting me as much, it hurt my dad. I’ve never seen him that depressed. That had to be one of the most depressing years this decade.

2016:  It was my first year in culinary school at George Brown College and I was blown away from everything. There’s so much stuff to learn, new people to meet, new skills to learn and master. I was completely overwhelmed from all the support of my professors and classmates. I busted my ass off in my first year. I got my first job as a full time production chef at the Toronto Christmas market, juggling that and being a full time student, did a cooking demo at Loblaws and worked as a production cook at Goodness Me! I went completely off the radar for about a year and when my friends saw me for the first time in a long time, they said I was a changed man. I went from a shy and slightly broken individual, to a person that has worked in some of the best kitchens in Toronto and has a stable job, while doing school.

2017: My health really hit me hard that year. I was rushed to the hospital because I was breathing very heavily, gotten insanely sick and that took a big toll on my schoolwork, my job and my personal life. A couple months after that I felt a lot better. So it’s back to work because this was the year I was graduating from culinary school. However, after graduating from George brown college for the first time, I suffered from a burnout. I wasn’t performing well at work. And it was the time I was forced to resign because they were moving locations to the point that I couldn’t work with them. So for the first time in a long time, I went on vacation. I never had a life outside the kitchen and it’s been 4 years since my last vacation. Might as well take a break from the kitchen for a bit. Few months after I went to Centennial college for “Food Media” and shortly after that, I got my old job back but now I’m an eatery team member.

2018: After I graduated from my last program, I promised myself to keep a balance between my professional life and personal life because I don’t want to make the same mistake twice back in high school. Last year was a pretty smooth year. I got promoted to an eatery team leader, my friend got me into playing an arcade game called Pump It Up, my managers are like my mentors.

2019: It was a pretty amazing year for me. I got promoted to an eatery supervisor, traveled for the first time in a long time, got 1000 views and 500 followers on my blog, and started a community where gamers can be free to be themselves and enjoy the game that we always love (which is Pump it Up). I’ve also come to terms that I don’t want to live a normal life anymore. I love the adrenaline rush in the food industry. I miss the highs and lows in the kitchen that taught me how to be a better person. I miss the fire inside me that keeps on motivating me to push harder. 

This is it. My decade rewind. It amazes me how far I have come and how much I’ve grown as a person. I never thought I would see myself here today. Thanks to everyone for helping me through my tough times. Friends, classmates and my most incredible mentors, you know who you are that helped me shaped me to what I have become today. Here’s to another 10 years and keep on cooking! I will if you will!