I spent a year in sixth form but decided it wasn’t for me. I had always had a passion for cooking, but I didn’t think I was good enough at first.
Eventually, I realised it was something I truly wanted to pursue, so after a year of not enjoying sixth form, I decided to go for it.
I knew about MidKent College through friends and family, and I spoke to a lot of people who had done the course before, and they told me that it a really good course, especially for the teachers and all the advice they could give me about careers in the industry.
So far this term we’ve done a lot of practical work. We've done a unit on vegetables where we made ratatouille. We've done a little bit of meat and we've done a lot of pasta!
I really like the College life and how they treat you like adults. And I also really enjoy the practical side of the course - there's obviously not as much theory as there is practical. But with the practical work it feels like you're in the industry.
I love my tutors. You get to build such a good relationship with them and it makes it ten times easier to feel comfortable asking questions and to just get on with them.
My timetable is really nice and spread out. I usually have practical in the morning, and then a little bit of theory in the afternoon, which kind of gets you excited, to come in, do your practical, and then move on to the theory afterwards.
I am in College for three days per week and I also have a part time job in the kitchen at a social club. I help with serving food and making it. Although it’s not a full-on chef role I can incorporate some of the skills I am learning and it also helps me to talk to people. I got a good reference from my tutor JJ which helped me and I am learning to talk to people more professionally about food. I love that!
After I have completed level two I'll probably do level three, and try and get a job as a chef or a line cook, which is my ultimate goal. I prefer larder cooking to baking as I feel I can be more creative, whereas with baking you have to use exact measurements.
If you’re thinking about coming to College, I would say go to the open days, and if you have a passion, I would recommend pursuing that instead of just going with the academic side. If you have a passion for something, you're going to be good at it regardless because you know you have the energy to give.
