How did I get here? A Journey from Social Work to Culinary Arts
By: Carly Hall
There is no other place to begin than the beginning….so
here we go. I was in the cool kids
“click” in High School. I skirted my way through those 4 years and received my diploma. I chose to go to the local community college
then transfer to ECU because my SAT scores would have been laughed at by any
college. Needless to say my 4 years of college turned into 6 but yet again I
graduated with a Criminal Justice Degree. Of course I got all the questions “Are
you going to be a cop? (no thanks…too dangerous) Are you going to be a lawyer? (noooo waaaay! I'm not that smart) You should be a lawyer,
you like to debate with people. (What? Really?? ha ha ha)” Honestly, I knew I wanted to do something in
the CJ field but I had no clue what. So
after graduation, I completed about 100 pd107’s (the really long State job
applications) and mailed them out along with my resume. Now the waiting game begins…
So I get my first “real” job with an all-male, medium
security prison near Wilmington, NC. And
quickly learned that job was not for me. For the next 7 years I find myself
working various jobs in the mental health field and learning everything I can
about mental health. Most jobs were in
adolescent group homes and juvenile facilities so I was well versed in juvenile
behaviors. I thought I found my calling in the MH field with kids but then was
offered a job with the Department of Social Services in the Foster Care Unit. How could I pass this up? A government job with benefits, no weekends
and paid Holidays. Plus I would be working with the population I knew a lot
about, kids! What could be better? Right?
During the next two years I'm involved with some of the happiest,
scariest, saddest and most heart breaking situations….day in and day out. I've seen things that would make most people
cry for days or hide under their beds forever.
During my DSS days, I used cooking as my outlet to wash away the horror
and sadness of each week. I’d literally
just throw this or that in a pot or pan and see what came out. I started
sharing my “meals” with a co-worker and the next thing I knew she was a regular
diner at my home. Then I began to make
better meals and share them at lunch with more of my co-workers. Soon I was making more dishes, sharing
recipes and even made food for others to take home. After several months of cooking, everyone was
talking about how good my food was and saying I should go to culinary
school. Yeah, right. Me? Ha!! I barely
made it through high school and college….how can I go back to school? Can I really do it?
Now here I am, present day 2012 and I'm in my first term
of Culinary Arts at TCA! From day one I wasn’t sure what to expect and every
day is a learning experience. I'm learning to make things “the right way”
rather than the way I do at home. It’s
like a whole new world to me. It can be quite intimidating at some points but I
made it through my rocky past, I shall soak up all the knowledge I can from the
present and build myself a shining future to be proud of.
I wrote all of this and then realized the best way to
explain it is through one of Brian Andreas Story People paintings.
The quote reads….. “Don't
you hear it? She asked & I shook my head no & then she started to dance
& suddenly there was music everywhere & it went on for a very long time
& when I finally found words all I could say was thank you.”
Thank you to God, my parents, my family and my friends
for having faith in me while I was making life changing choices.
Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to do something
different.
Thank you to everyone who answered my 500 questions about
culinary schools and how TCA was the best choice.
Thank you to everyone who is encouraging me to keep
pushing forward.
Thank you to everyone…thank you so very much.
(insert deep sigh
of relief)
