“You went missing for so long, and now you’re a completely new person” -everyone that I know

This is what I hear from a lot of friends and family members, and it’s true. I did go under the radar for over a year. The reason being is that I was desperate to change myself. I wasn’t happy with the situation I was in and I realised that what I was doing was all that was left. Did I miss all my loved ones? Of course. Was missing a year with those people worth the change? Absolutely! 

I remember my first class being hella rough. I had no idea what to expect. Overtime, you’ll get used to the adrenaline and you’ll learn to love it. A few weeks past and one of my professors asked me if I wanted to help one of his co-workers in an event. I wanted to say no but I promised myself to get as much exposure in the industry as I can. After a few interviews, I got the job. But I still had some doubts in my mind. So I asked my professor if I should back out because I’m not good enough. He compliments me about being very skilled at such a young age. Then he said to me “No man. You’re really good for someone that is your age, and I’m really smart, and if I think you can do it, who do you think you are? You need to stop comparing yourself to others because self-comparison is going to set yourself to failure”.

So I did the old college try (ugh, I hate saying that), and I absolutely love it. Yes it’s hard at the beginning because it’s a new workplace in a completely different environment but once you learn their cooking style, it isn’t that bad. From spending hours just washing dishes, to putting away foods at freezing temperatures, to working in the kitchen for more than 8 hours, it’s been a wild experience. Oh, did I mention that I was juggling full-time work with school?

Over the course of 12 months, I’ve experienced, worked, and volunteered in a number of places like the Toronto Christmas Market, Loblaws cooking school and much much more, and the best part is that I’ve only been in this industry for 6 years. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead of my journey.