Hey, Rick here once again! During my time in the Next program, I was put into the Food & Nutrition group where we learnt about foods, cooking and baking. The Food and Nutrition group got to take a tour of Algonquin College’s culinary arts school, take a class, cook, and meal prep for the day. I never even knew they offered that type of program because I love baking and cooking as well. I personally got to take a tour of a bakery in Ottawa, which really gave me a sense of how to start up my own business back home,how to navigate problems, coordinate staff, hire staff, and all the business stuff.

My favourite thing to experience was that I never knew Algonquin College offered 1st and 2nd year of Culinary arts program. Your first year of culinary schooling is just learning how to cook like a 5 star restaurant. Then in the second year you’re still cooking, but more experienced, learning what it’s like to be the head chef in a restaurant, taking charge of your meals, prepping and other stuff. I also learnt that once you graduate Culinary arts, you can get hired basically anywhere in the world, on cruise ships, high quality restaurants, and so much more places around the world. I was also told you make around 10k a month, if I remember correctly hehe. I also got to take a tour at a local bakery where I learnt what it’s like to have your own personal business. Speaking of personal business, I would one day love to open up a bakery in my hometown which is known as Baker Lake. I learnt to start small and that there may be some downs and ups in the process of starting your own bakery, but it’s worth all the hustle if you push yourself in order to achieve what you want in life because no one else will do it for you.

Through all the good and harsh times during my placement with NYA Next, I would definitely do this all over again if I could. I also would love to go to school in Ottawa some day as it opened more doors than I imagined. Until next time!

Warm regards, Rick.