{"id":4826,"date":"2015-03-13T11:06:08","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T16:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escoffier.edu\/?p=4826"},"modified":"2024-07-26T08:04:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T13:04:18","slug":"beginning-with-the-end-in-mind-and-the-start-of-a-new-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escoffier.edu\/blog\/austin-student-life\/beginning-with-the-end-in-mind-and-the-start-of-a-new-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginning With The End In Mind And The Start Of A New Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Alex Charpentier, Culinary Arts Student<\/em><\/p>\n

A glimpse inside a commencement ceremony at the Austin Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.<\/p>\n

Next month I begin a new chapter of my life as a student in the Culinary Arts Program<\/a> at the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in hip Austin, Texas.\u00a0 During the ten month program, Chef Instructors will take me and my classmates through a series of six week cooking and baking courses<\/a>, culminating with an industry externship where we will gain relevant experience by working in a local Austin food establishment.\u00a0 Our culinary school<\/a> experience will be different for each of us and we will each seek a different path upon completion of the program.<\/p>\n\"grads<\/a>\n

I enter the culinary arts program with the intention of putting my years of corporate marketing and communications experience as well as my Master\u2019s Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management to work in the culinary industry and thus realign my career with my passion for food.\u00a0 Others may be just starting out in their careers and have aspirations of working their way up to an Executive Chef position in a popular restaurant, of starting a catering company or a food truck, of writing a cookbook or even of opening their own restaurant.\u00a0\u00a0 Regardless of the plan, what is certain is that we have all made the commitment to ourselves to follow the path to a future in the culinary or pastry arts.<\/p>\n

In preparation for my new life experience, I was invited by the Director of the Austin Escoffier campus<\/a>, Marcus McMellon, to attend a commencement ceremony for the most recent culinary and pastry arts graduates to experience first-hand what completing the program meant.\u00a0\u00a0 Commencement is a French word that means \u201cbeginning\u201d or \u201cstart\u201d so while graduation marks the end of the culinary arts program; it is really the first step in the start of many culinary careers and the launching pad for the future for all of the graduates.<\/p>\n\"grads<\/a>\n

As I sat quietly in the ballroom of an upscale Austin hotel, I watched the culinary and pastry students and their chef instructors proudly enter the room while their families and loved ones cheered them on, many with tears of pride and joy in their eyes.\u00a0 I listened to Director McMellon congratulate them all on some of the highlights of their experience:\u00a0 their class included the first hearing impaired student.\u00a0 They received a visit from Michel Escoffier, a distinguished member of the school\u2019s advisory board and the great-grandson of Master Chef Auguste Escoffier and the President of the Escoffier Museum and Foundation in Villanueve-Loubet, France.\u00a0 They won the Farm to Chef Austin student culinary competition sponsored by the Sustainable Food Center in Austin and the Texas Chef\u2019s Association Austin Chapter, beating out all the other culinary schools in Austin<\/a>.\u00a0 In listening, I became more and more confident about the decision that I had made to enroll in the program.<\/p>\n\"grads<\/a>\n

Director McMellon and a series of other speakers took the stage, each providing their own reflections upon the past year and the future to come.\u00a0 One of those speakers was Bob Saiz, President of the Auguste Escoffier School\u2019s parent company and a restaurant industry veteran himself.\u00a0 His advice was simple and straightforward.\u00a0 He told the students to have a plan, to write it down and to work their plan.\u00a0 \u201cAfter all\u201d he said \u201ca bad plan is better than no plan at all.\u201d\u00a0 He also reminded them that \u201clife is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you do with it.\u201d\u00a0 Good advice for people entering the exciting but demanding and, at times, unpredictable culinary world.<\/p>\n

Following Mr. Saiz, two student speakers took the stage, one a culinary arts graduate and one a pastry arts graduate.\u00a0 They spoke of their passion for food, their dedication to the restaurant industry and their hard work and tenacity in realizing their culinary dreams.\u00a0\u00a0 I learned about the opportunities available as a student at the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts to become a student ambassador by accumulating volunteer hours in the Austin community and was inspired by many of the graduates who had received this distinction.\u00a0 Finally, Chef Sebastien Caillabet, owner of Celtic Seafare<\/a>, spoke to the students about the importance of professionalism in the restaurant industry and how to succeed.<\/p>\n\"grads<\/a>\n

\u201cMaintaining a high level of professionalism in everything you do is of the utmost importance if you want to be successful in this industry.\u00a0 If you do what you say you are going to do, if you follow through and if you put your best foot forward with each and every interaction you will succeed\u201d said Caillabet.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to put yourself out there, be confident in your skills and never stop learning\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

I sat back as the graduates received their diplomas and donned their Toque Blanches for the first time and I listened as the room erupted in shouts and cheers and I smiled to myself; I had just witnessed the start of something great.<\/p>\n\"Escoffier<\/a>\n

Meet Alex Charpentier:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A foodie, culinary storyteller and experiential marketer, Alex Charpentier passionately writes and studies the why behind innovators, brands and consumers in the culinary and hospitality segments. She has a BS in French Literature and Art History from UCLA and a Masters in Management from Cornell University\u2019s Hotel & Restaurant School. \u00a0Alex recently left her corporate marketing job to attend the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts and follow her passion for all things culinary and to live and write about her transition from at-home cook to trained Chef!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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