by David Bennett, December 12, 2018

I wish I could say that culinary school was exactly what I hoped it would be, and that I’m 100% sure that I made the right decision by attending. Unfortunately, I can’t and I’m not. However, looming graduation, and the gentle shove into the “real world” that comes along with it, has forced me to reflect more deeply on my yearlong experience. I’d like to use this blog post as a way to organize my reflections, focusing on the positives.

I want to start by saying that the Kendall College Trust (KCT) has been one of the best parts of my culinary school experience. The KCT has been easy to communicate with, generous, and motivating. It’s also connected me with like-minded students and professionals. These connections, I’m sure, will be lifelong and immeasurably beneficial. The generous scholarship awarded by the KCT has allowed me to build my culinary career around passion rather than earning a living. I can’t thank the Kendall College Trust enough for its generosity. A major benefit of receiving a scholarship from the KCT has been the friendships it’s allowed me the time to build.

The friendships I’ve built while at Kendall were unexpected, and admittedly accepted with hesitation, but have grown to be strong, cherished friendships. Despite the extremely varied backgrounds of the people with whom I’ve grown so close over this past year, we’ve been able to connect through the commonality of culinary passion. We’ve shared stresses, tears, celebrations, disagreements, heartbreaks, and progress. An outsider looking in would have a hard time believing we’ve only known each other for twelve months. I look forward to seeing how these friendships continue to grow beyond the kitchens at Kendall College.

If I got nothing from my year at Kendall other than a solid education and lasting friendships, I’d consider that year a success. However, I’ve gained much more. I could write pages about both the positives and negatives of my culinary school experience, but for the sake of conciseness, I’ll end by saying that I’m extremely grateful for what the Kendall College Trust and Kendall College has given me this year. Every experience, good or bad, will continue to shape me as a cook, student, friend, and professional. I hope the KCT continues to provide generous scholarships to dedicated students for years to come.