Pastry Graduation at NWCAV

Graduation day for the Autumn 2006 Culinary and Pastry class was held last Friday. In Chef Christophe's speech, he indicated that it was now time for us to leave the comforts of 'mama and papa', make our way into the food world on our own, and leave the 'home' to search out new mentors.

I have been trying to figure out ways to wean my way off of the school because it is difficult to leave such a fabulous environment. It just so happens that Chef Marco has put together a private, advanced chocolate class for a few of us that have shown a never-ending need to learn more about it. Even though that course will also come to an end, I take comfort that each one of us has ongoing support from the Chefs at the school. They are not only mentors and people who have been inspirations – they have become friends. That is one of the things that I have admired most about all of the staff at the school. They are connectors in every way. They connect with you by taking the time to understand you and help you to connect with others by networking. They also show a true interest to stay in touch and are eager to learn about your upcoming journey.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the entire program and, once again, learned an overwhelming amount in that short period of time. I have so many stories to share about the past few weeks but when you mix exams, graduation, family, errands, and searching for a scale for the official weigh out (I somehow can't seem to locate one of those) there seems to be no time left in the day for blogging, which I really miss!

To my fellow pastry classmates, best of luck to all of you wherever you may go. It will be exciting to see where we wind up in the world of pastry! Thank you, Charmaine, for a fantastic pastry graduation speech. With her permission, I am posting it here.


Most of all, thank you to my incredibly supportive husband who encouraged me to take this leap. I couldn't have done it without you! And, of course, thank you to my entire family and friends for making the experience so positive. I promise to always fill your bellies with the tastiest things and work at becoming better and better!

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