Overwhelmed

[Ole]

So I don’t know if its just I am running myself ragged or what it is. See I have never had real culinary experience other than what I have had at school, don’t get me wrong- I love what I am doing and honestly put my heart and soul into it- but some days it seams as if school is trying to shove to much stuff down my throat and I am not retaining everything I am doing. I don’t know what is going to be expected of me when I am a grad? I honestly learn after being shown once, on occasion maybe twice- but I got the hustle and bustle part- not to sound macho, but I will give the best of them a good run when it comes down to long hard manual labor portion of the job-, I get involved as much as possibly can- I’m now starting to fear that when I graduate I am going to be expected to know everything………please lend me two, or even three cents? It will be much appreciated…..

[Max_Xavier]

welcome to the world called culinary. glad you can stop by.
enjoy the ride or it will enjoy you.

alot of what is to be expected of you deeply relies on what type of position you take when you graduate. there is a good chance you may be more knowledgable then the others around you in that position. have no fear. don't worry. just do what you are supposed to do as fast as you can in the way you are instructed and get over it.there will be things expected but most will show you how they specifically want it anyway.

does any of this make sense? Geeze!

[SmokeyJoe]

just do what you are supposed to do as fast as you can in the way you are instructed

Pay attention to detail and follow maxs advice and youll be a boss wet dream. If I got to explain every minute detail to you but in return I know its gonna be perfect everytime Id consider it a fair trade. And then when you take your job, recognize quickly what you dont know that you need to know and make it your buissness to find out(On your time). And then theres this site.

[ChezLeRecherche]

Try thinking of school as the place where you prove your ability to learn all the required things. This is not the same as 100% retention of everything presented.

Hopefully, your boss will have enough experience to recognize this and will expect to show you how he wants thing and you will have no problem.

ATTITUDE is SOOOOO important. If you finish school thinking you've mastered it all, I pity the one who hires you.

[SmokeyJoe]

.......I pity the one who hires you.

can you say that with a grunt and a snarl?

[Ole]

max- thanks you make it sound good, or at least less stressful.....

as for knowing it all- if that were the case- i'd already be the one signing the checks-hahahaha.

honestly i hope to never 'know it all' if i ever thought i did, i'd hope one of my FRIENDS would just shoot me!

i just feel that there is so much to learn and my poor little head is overflowing with info, talk of retaining info- i know there has got to be a way to keep it all in without it overflowing out my ears- but i guess thats where 15-20 years comes in.......uh! this is going to be FUN!

i love food, hospitality, and stress (the type of stress when your under the gun and just move and act without thinking)- now thats a rush!!!!

but still,
i want more than anything to be everything for my future employer- what can i do in advance to assure that i have what it takes to please them 100%?

[naunga]

And the sad part is that once you get out of school, you'll get into a restaurant where the chef has you do everything differently than what you learned.

School is trying to shove a lot into your head, because there is a lot to know, but what you need to realize is that you do not stop learning after school is over. You will not know everything after you graduate, and no one expects you to know everything. What they do expect is that you'll have a good attitude, come to work neat, clean, and on time, and do as you're told. That's it. That's why so many of the guys working in kitchens in this country are from Mexico or some other Latin American Country. They're hard workers who come in on time (mostly) and do as they're told. Night, after night, after night.

So here's what to do...

1. Know that you cannot know everything and will not know everything after school.

2. Get a job in a busy restaurant ASAP.


One final observation...your sig "Looks like a duck, Quacks like a duck, MUST be a duck, But doesn’t mean IT IS!", to me says a lot about you. To me it says you like to argue. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, I mean lawyers get paid to argue with people. This makes me think that you're not typically a person who will simply man-up and do something that you've been told to do. You need to keep that in check, because when you've got 400+ people coming in for dinner in an hour, every minute counts, and the chef can't spend even 2 minutes debating the finer points of making something with you. Maybe I'm totally off with that observation. Who knows. Although given the tattoo...I think not. I think you're a person who defines themselves by your rebellious nature...call it a hunch.

Anyhow, there's my two cents.

Naunga

[Ole]

well your observation is off.

why is it rebelious because i have chosen to do something you haven't? appearance is my chose, it dose not stop me from doing what i'm told- or having respect, or having morals, it dose not stop me from learning, becoming a leader, or taking action to fix something without having to wait around for 2 minutes for someone to tell me what to do when i can analize it by myself!!!

this is where two digfferent walks of life cross paths, (my observation) you obviously have not seen life from my side of the tracks- not to say you have had it easy, but the road of life that i was dropped off on forced me to MAN UP and make choses to ensure my survival- not to say they all where right but when thats all you know, thats what you do, untill you LEARN different. I could try to get you to understand me and give me a shot- but honestly, you have formed this view of who i am based on a piucture and some dumb quote of mine, and therefore i will let you keep you views and that will be that. I appreciate your 2 cents, that lets me know that life will always have road blocks- i now have the choses of allowing them to stop me, breaking through it, going over it, or simpley continuing down the road cause i always know there is a way around it!

i can say this, i am me, one of a kind! many better, many worst, and some who are very similar, but not a single one like me- and i love me for that! trust is everything and my word is all i have, when it comes down to it- i can always count on me!

as for school, i joke with the president of the school about getting a office because i am there 14 hours a day. I have been given the responibility of forming a student mentor group, i have taken the chair of student council vice president, and have now formed my very own non-profit food drive for homeless people in my community.......
I just want to like.......
sorry you don't understand me!

but thank you again!

[lebelage]

I'm not sure where your observations about Ole are coming from naunga???

His quote comes from a thread that was on a long time back and is probably meant in a different context than you're taking it.

He's new, he's green, sure- we all were at the beginning. Many of us had to learn the hard way when it was ok to question the chef and when it wasn't... when is a good time to debate the merits of a different method of preparation and when isn't. That's something that only comes with experience and I think he's open minded enough to let it sink in quickly.

I'm very particular about the way my kitchen runs and very strict yet I would be happy to give Ole a shot.

Young and feisty and older and wiser both have their advantages. To each thing its season.

As to tattoos being about rebellion... I have 4 and they weren't about rebellion. I put them on because I wanted them. That simple. All about me. I wanted them so I got them, other people didn't enter into the choice at all. It is easy to dismiss something as putting on an outward show but we all make our own choices and pay our own prices for them.

Claims of attention seeking can apply to anything from cars, clothes, hair, whatever. A tat is a choice like any other. You can tell a lot about a person by what kind of tat they have too.

.

[Silverfox]

...You can tell a lot about a person by what kind of tat they have too.

Without question!

And many times, the "tat" overrides many other characteristics in the minds of many, unfortunately in some cases.

[lebelage]

Heck, if my tats weed me out from someone's employ that's good prescreening for me, I don't need them and they don't need me.

[BlakeA]

My new tattoo...what does that say about me? Do you know who I am by a little ink on my arm?


At least my employers will know that I'm dedicated to my craft.

[Blueicus]

Nice. Admittedly I never really had a strong desire to get a tattoo simply because I never figured out what I wanted to get.

[Silverfox]

My new tattoo...what does that say about me? Do you know who I am by a little ink on my arm?

Of course not, and that is my point. Whether it is recognized or not, there are a lot of people who will not bother to try and find out what it "says about you" and will choose not to inquire further.

At least my employers will know that I'm dedicated to my craft.

Really? Is that what you think it says?

[BlakeA]

Yes, that is what I think it says. In the last month I have trailed at 3 different fine dining restaurants in NYC and my tattoo has been unanimously accepted as such. I was offered an externship at all 3 places...not b/c of my tattoo, but b/c I cn handle myself well in a kitchen, which is my point...tattoos don't mean jack when it comes to skill.