Culinary School Hater

[ldts60]

I hate my culinary school and I have found it to be the most degrading
experience in the world . The first day should have been a clue when more
half of the students think Emeril is all that and then when I'm asked I state
Mark Peel . Blank looks from the students , praise from the Chef .
When the Cheesecake Factory is praised by other students as the culinary
ideal I become very afraid . Am I a freak ?

[chrose]

You know, I think I can relate in a way. When I went to Culinary School, I was in my ahem...mid-later 20's, and I had come from a professional background in Engineering where I was respected for my abilities in my particular field. My first block in school I hated the Chef and felt like I was being treated like a know nothing idiot. I had some respect previously and to go to being treated like I was, was hard to swallow. I thought my Chef instructor was being an unusually hard as--d idiot. We did not see eye to eye and one day he told me to just leave and go see the director of the school. I did and we had a "chat" it was at that point that I realized I was no longer in "my world" and that if I was going to survive I would have to accept the fact that this was his world and I had better start accepting that fact. I was essentially in boot camp. I was a peon and until I learned and proved myself, I would stay that way.
Once I came to that realization things got much smoother. I went in realizing I had a lot to learn and that it was going to be their way. I played the game their way, I learned their way and I ended up at the top of my class doing it my way AND their way!
That particular Chef I had that first block I had 2 more times in successively harder classes, and eventually realized I learned more from him than anyone else! The point is, you're in it for the long run. Forget your co-students they are not important to your studies. Hunker down, grin and bear it and you will do well for yourself!
Hang in and good luck!

[ldts60]

Thank you for a reply, I wish it was only a chef thing but it's not .
It's the whole curriculum 3 days on wedding cakes and 2 days on chocolate?
Personally chocolate is far more important than some nasty cake you can't
or wouldn't want to eat .The list is long and I have a notebook to do(sigh).
Thank You for the pat on the back .

[DanBrown]

Remember this key, what you put into it determines what you will get out of it. Breathe in, breathe out, and rise above. Your committment to excellence will determine the quality of your life. Don't waste your energy being a hater, just keep psychological distance between yourself, and those who represent what you are not. Find people who understand your point of view and use them for support. Yes, the cirriculum goes too fast (sushi chefs spend 3 years on rice, why can't we do that?), but take thorough notes, and remember the learning process doesn't end in culinary school, but it's a good place to start.

[Mezzaluna]

ldts60, you've already gotten a warm welcome, so I'll just add that you can learn a lot here, too. I can't count the decades of experience that are here in our members.

I'm going to move this to the culinary students' forum so your message can get even more responses. Please make yourself at home and enjoy all this great community has to offer.

Welcome!
Mezzaluna

[Rivitman]

If you are a serious student, serious about your career, and got into the field eyes wide open, then yes, C school can be somewhat irritating, thanks mostly to your fellow students.

They are going to be your major obstacle to overcome. They are going to slow you down, interfere with you, and annoy you. They may or may not pull thier fair share of the grunt work.

Ignore it best you can. There is no better place than C school to become the instructors favorite, it allows you to monopolize more of his time unto yourself. Work like your life depends on it.

My experience showed me that at any given time about 20% of the class is even making an effort. But you have to rise above this annoyance, because kitchen work in real time has it's own difficulties, that while not the same, are equally severe.

[freshwater]

this message is for chrose. from reading your post, I am guessing that you were in the military doing the engineering thing. By the time your enlistment was done you went into culinary. Im just posting this because your post sounds like my situation right now. I too was in the engineering field and praised for what i did.

[chrose]

Freshwater sorry to inform you but you guessed incorrectly I was never in the military. I did do work for the ACOE, but never as enlisted.
I did however take a lot of pride in what I did so I was pretty steadfast in that. That might be what led you to that conclusion.
I think it may well go across the board for anyone changing careers from one profession that they know into one they don't know as well (yet) it takes time to get acclimated as well as accepted. Like anything else you work hard, do your job, respect those that have more experience than you (regardless of what they may or may not know) and eventually you will reach that same level.