Nailed It Comp'

@drazil Thank you for the word of advice! I'm a little too young to get hired for any of those positions yet (I'm a junior in high school) but once I graduate I'll make sure to start getting cooking experience. Sadly all restaurants will hire me for is waiting tables at the moment.

I'm doing the same except my high school has a culinary program so the past 3 years (I'm a junior) I've been studying the management side of the culinary industry while thise year & next year is more hands on experience in the kitchen...this program allows me senior year to take an internship while also getting certifications

@brianna_22 That sounds like a great program! It look like you've gotten lucky. No schools in my area have any programs like that sadly and there are barely any culinary colleges at all. All I've really got to choose from is two Art Institutes and one community college.

Where I live there are quite a few of culinary colleges but I actually plan on attending the Art Institute of Seattle, if I get accepted...even if there are no culinary programs you can still take the initiative to get your food handlers card and apply for a job somewhere, as our chef tells us quite often that by graduation he wants those of us serious about culinary to grow a passion for it, almost hate it, bc too many times he's seen people go to school to study & end up wasting money

one thing you can do is practice at home by cooking dinner for the family. also, one thing i did growing up was to make ramen for lunch and make different sauces for it. it is a good way to learn what goes together. also taste all the seasonings by itself. you will notice a huge difference in dry and fresh, in flavor and potency. building a mental library of flavors in your head will make you a master at seasoning. you will basically be able to taste the meal before you start cooking. important thing to remember, it takes time for the flavors to settle in, in food. give it time before you reseason, or else you will over season, especially salt. also take risks, try something new. my saying in the kitchen "best thing being a cook, you can eat your mistakes, you can't do that as a doctor". it is a stressful job on the line, you have to have fun with it.