lissirae
Oct 30, 2012
Undergraduate / Culinary Institute of America Essay: Who Influences You? [3]
Prompt:
Complete an essay of 400-500 words about the person in your life who most influenced your interest in the foodservice and hospitality field. Please include a discussion of your career goals.
Essay:
To be perfectly honest, this essay isn't about someone who has inspired me. It's not about a famous chef or dear-to-my-heart grandmother who taught me to braise, bake, or boil. To say anyone pushed me into the culinary field would be an outright lie when the truth is I dove in headfirst of my own accord.
I grew up believing I would be a scientist. I'd always loved travelling and being outdoors, and I wanted a job that would allow me to do both. But the more I forced myself into physics and chemistry, human anatomy and AP biology, the more I started to ask myself, "What am I doing?" When my mother convinced my sister to join a cake decorating class to get her out of the house, I tagged along, curious to get a taste of this new art form I'd never had the opportunity to try. From there, something blossomed. Along with my mother and sister, we began assembling cakes for birthday parties, graduation parties, and anniversaries. What started as a hobby began to flourish into an early career and develop into a dream. I dropped all the science classes that were causing me so much doubt about my future and took up every foods class offered in my school. It shouldn't have been such a surprise to find we did much more cooking than baking or cake decorating in my classes, but it was like finding a fresh start in life. Discovering my passion for cooking was like finding a piece of myself I never knew I was missing. Nothing I have ever done in life has ever given me this kind of passion or motivated me so intensely.
No one person has ever driven me into culinary. In fact, I can honestly say nobody in my life influenced me to pursue cooking. My motivation comes from a place in myself not within reach of outside influences. My drive is the pure ecstasy I experience after plating a perfect dish and the feeling I get when someone takes that first bite. My passion comes from the scents of sautĂŠed vegetables and freshly minced garlic and the warmth I feel emanating from the kitchen. This food thing is still so new to me, but I fell into this rhythm like I had been cooking my whole life, and I'm loving every second I get to spend discovering more.
Prompt:
Complete an essay of 400-500 words about the person in your life who most influenced your interest in the foodservice and hospitality field. Please include a discussion of your career goals.
Essay:
To be perfectly honest, this essay isn't about someone who has inspired me. It's not about a famous chef or dear-to-my-heart grandmother who taught me to braise, bake, or boil. To say anyone pushed me into the culinary field would be an outright lie when the truth is I dove in headfirst of my own accord.
I grew up believing I would be a scientist. I'd always loved travelling and being outdoors, and I wanted a job that would allow me to do both. But the more I forced myself into physics and chemistry, human anatomy and AP biology, the more I started to ask myself, "What am I doing?" When my mother convinced my sister to join a cake decorating class to get her out of the house, I tagged along, curious to get a taste of this new art form I'd never had the opportunity to try. From there, something blossomed. Along with my mother and sister, we began assembling cakes for birthday parties, graduation parties, and anniversaries. What started as a hobby began to flourish into an early career and develop into a dream. I dropped all the science classes that were causing me so much doubt about my future and took up every foods class offered in my school. It shouldn't have been such a surprise to find we did much more cooking than baking or cake decorating in my classes, but it was like finding a fresh start in life. Discovering my passion for cooking was like finding a piece of myself I never knew I was missing. Nothing I have ever done in life has ever given me this kind of passion or motivated me so intensely.
No one person has ever driven me into culinary. In fact, I can honestly say nobody in my life influenced me to pursue cooking. My motivation comes from a place in myself not within reach of outside influences. My drive is the pure ecstasy I experience after plating a perfect dish and the feeling I get when someone takes that first bite. My passion comes from the scents of sautĂŠed vegetables and freshly minced garlic and the warmth I feel emanating from the kitchen. This food thing is still so new to me, but I fell into this rhythm like I had been cooking my whole life, and I'm loving every second I get to spend discovering more.
