3 weeks

That's the amount of time we have in each class. For most college students a class lasts 4 months, but here they last 14 days. Those 3 week increments allowed me to start classes here 3 days after I graduated high school at the end of June. There are a couple advantages to starting at such a weird time. The first is that my incoming group is pretty small, we have smaller classes (9-12 students) allowing for everyone to cook more and stand around less. I hear about these classes of 18-21 and I wonder what the students do. Second, there is a very diverse group of people in my class not just high school graduates like the majorities of the incoming August classes. It is so helpful to have 24, 28, and 31 year olds giving you perspective about the Food Industry and life. Lastly, we are learning about American cuisine at Thanksgiving time which I think is just awesome.

I am also glad that the classes last 3 weeks allowing us to have a very wide range of Chefs as instructors. There are days when its frustrating to let go of a skill you learned last week with one Chef in exchange for your current Chef's instructions. However, the Chefs here each have something very different and unique to offer that being exposed to so many different personalities provides a very rich education.