Day 1: A New Beginning

Day one of culinary school. Today was a lot of sitting and listening as heaps of info was unloaded onto us. How the school works, policies, emergencies- usual first day rigamarole.

My class of 25 is made up of all nationalities, we have Mexicans, a Brit, a Russian, two Chinese girls and guy from Hong Kong. We come from all walks of life, and many of us already have degrees in another unrelated discipline.

Our instructors are professional, yet approachable. They warn us they'll work us hard and have high expectations. We should be prepared to have little to no social life over the next month.

It's daunting. A little scary. One girl in pastry told me not to take myself out of this program, even if I feel overwhelmed. One old grad came back to visit, he said the same thing.

But I'm keeping a positive outlook, challenge is good. We'll see how I feel 3 weeks from now.