Week 5 and 6 Rolling Through the Puches

 The past two weeks were about more about experiencing the pitfalls of college (not that it was horrible or anything.) I'm just experiencing some of the hardships that college has put for other students as my self. It happens all over the world from every college and any student such as myself. Here is a list of what has gone wrong in terms of working so hard and losing my mind.

•  My computers hard drive was broken and I could not blog or type anything for a while. (I want to also thank my dads I.T guy for fixing my computer to make this blog post possible.)  
• I had a hard time sleeping for the past few nights. (It could be I'm overworked and drank too much coffee. Then again, it could just be me.)
• Sometimes I cant seem to focus and I keep forgetting things. (Then again, it could be the sleeplessness.)

  All of those reasons are proof of some of the challenges of college life. Its not really like national lampoon, where its party, party, party all the time. There are students out there, where they work day and night to get where they want to go today. I am one of those students who have devoted my time to reach my goal as a chef. True, I lived a life of eight to three school schedule for all my childhood but it I have been through my first year of college with stamina of a bull and wisdom of the night owl (no pun intended).

  Right now I'm at U of I with my brother and my parents to see my first live college football game. To me, it was exciting to see the campus and watch football with my family. For now, I'm just glad to get out and get some work done and get some sleep. For now, I bid you a-do.   

Semester 3, Week 3 A Thought about Life

    This week was about pain and thought. During my baking class, I cut my finger with a serrated knife and I have to go to the nurses office to get it bandaged. I did not need stitches or anything, I just need to keep it easy on my left hand index finger for a while. After that day, I thought about if I truly wanted to be a chef for the rest of my life. I still want to be a chef, but I also want something more.

 What I truly want is to travel, write and cook just like Anthony Bourdain. I do not  want to copy him but, I want to experience the life of cooking and food writing as he did. True, I'm not exactly the best writer, but I do have a passion for food and people. I want friends, family, and people who are fascinated by food to read about why food is special to people just as myself.

  For my plan of action, I'm going to write more about my life, my passion and people who inspire me to keep going and to not only fulfill my dream of becoming a chef, but to travel and write as the heroes of the restaurant business had. I'm not exactly sure, what I'm going to write about but I will write everyday what life is and was.
  As for the rest of the week, the classes were all about planing, preparing and practicing for the opening day of the restaurant and the bakery. As my life as a student continues, I keep on cooking and writing.   

Semester 3, Week 2 A New Start

    After a time thinking about my life, I decided to resign my position as buffet cook. It was a tough decision, but I think education is a little more important right now. I'm still going to find a job but I'm taking a break to focus on my studies for now.There is one thing I did learn from the casino; that is if I wanted to succeed in the business, then I need to bring it up a notch and keep cooking until the end.

   My second week at the college was more like a continuation of the first week in regarding to safety, sanitation, and how everything works. I have to give a presentation of how a Buffalo chopper works. For people who don't know, a Buffalo chopper is a machine that chops large amounts of food into pieces.(more like a giant food processor) So if you have a big amount of peeled carrots and needed to get it done right away, all you do is attach, lock, let it run and feed it into the bowl. It is a really useful tool if you needed a large amount done in a short amount of time.

    After that week, I can truly relax for a while and focus on completing my work for the week to enjoy the weekend. So for now, I will bid you a-do.

Semester 3, Week 1 The Pressure is On

 It was the first semester after a summer of working at the Casino and exploring the Canadian Wilderness. So far, I have been taking classes on Accounting, Appreciation to Music and English three times a week. It some one of those classes that doesn't really relate to the culinary arts (in terms as practical experience) but I really like to have a variety in classes to see what college life is like during the day.
 
   I also have some practical classes such as Food Prep 2, Specialty Baking, and Garde Manger. So far its mostly lecture classes about safety and what we are going to do during the semester. So far, things have been calm during my first week back in the states with my old companions and the normal tasks of day to day life at the college. I still have to work at the Casino but I will try my best to keep up with the work flow of serving food and writing papers.

  That is all I'm going to say for now. I have to get ready for my day at the Casino. For now, I bid you a-do.

My Return

 After a summer of working at the casino and spending three weeks in the Canadian wilderness, I return to Chicago to continue my education. After my time in the wilderness, I realized how powerful my passion for cooking can really be a big factor in my life. True, I'm not as professional as the seasoned chefs you see on T.V, but I defiantly will keep cooking until the very end. 

 My first class starts this morning with a few classes regarding in accounting, writing, and appreciation of music. There not really culinary classes, but there part of the experience at the college. I'm also taking some other classes that are culinary, but I will also include the other class in my writings to tell you about my experience in the college.

 For now, I must bid a-do for I have to get ready for my first class.

My Training to Glory

 As for the past week and a half, I have learned more about the culinary profession then I thought possible. I was still the novice but I believe I can grow and prosper.

 What I was actually going to do is that I will write the Casino Chronicles in an autobiography I'm currently working on. There is no title but I think it would have a look in the life of a culinary arts student, a buffet cook, and a person who over came challenges to make it where he is today.

 I haven't really done much anything else, but I will keep you updated more in the fall and give you updates about my book in the sometime future. For now, I bid you a-do.

A Change of Plans

  About a few weeks ago, I actually got hired to work at a new casino opening up in July. So far, I went through the usual paper work for getting hired and I am about to go training on Monday for my first job. The reason why I am writing about this is because I have to cancel the summer classes in order to go through the training before the casino opens, but don't worry I will still go to the fall semester with more stories from the campus and beyond.

  I also want to inform you about my newest segment on the blog. Instead of calling the segment The Summer Chronicles, I decided to call it The Casino Chronicles for all of the new stories about my time as a buffet cook in a casino. There would be everything from tales of the backstage kitchen to the front lines where I will be serving from time to time. There would also be new characters and more stories of me surviving the big world of the culinary arts.

 I am still going to Canada for three weeks if you are also still wondering about it, but from that time I cant really access through the Internet so I would be able to make more blog posts until I start the fall  semester.

  So I just wanted to update whats going to happen in the future and hopefully get through without being trampled by the hordes of cooks and chefs alike to make it to the top. For now I bid you a-do.