First Day of Class - By Dmitri Wyatt

Student loans, grants, be on time, don’t be late, don’t miss any days… That’s right you guessed it! First day of school! Man, so excited to at last have the chance to do something I’m in love with. I’ve always loved food, eating food, seeing food, creating food I love it all! My mom was never great at sharing the kitchen, when I was younger I would ask her to show me things in the kitchen, soon I would just be in the way and bumped out to watch her do her thing on the sideline. Then later dish duty.

I will be the first to say, I thought this day would never get here, but today it hit full force. CSC, CCC, CEC, CMC, COC, CWPC, ACF, SOP, to be honest I was lost after the first three. Let’s not forget about the DANGER ZONE!!! I thought chef might be sending us in the battle!

Did I mention food borne-illness outbreaks?! Oh, but that’s only if it’s two or more people. Time is money, and pathogens, those are the bad guys! Did I tell you, you can’t see them, smell them, or taste them? Sneaky little ninjas! How about all the places pathogens can live? Milk, pork, beef, lamb, fish, baked potatoes, and this list does go on and on.

Okay, all jokes aside. Today was in fact an awesome day! I did feel a bit over-whelmed leaving class thinking in my head, I hope I can keep up, I hope I can make that work. That all changed quickly after I got home and put on my chef coat with my cool pants and stood in front of the mirror and said, “I will make this work, and I will keep up, why? Because this is what I’ve wanted and made it this far. Go big or go home.”

And, well my friends I don’t plan on going home!

First Day of Class - By Cassandra Welch

As I sit outside in my car on my first day of school in almost a decade, all I can think about is how incredibly tired I am. I sat up last night in a mix of excitement, fear and anticipation, which resulted in a measly 5 hours of sleep. What a great way to start off the first day of the rest of my life. Once I made it inside I noticed how happy and relaxed the other students seem, which makes me a little less apprehensive about this whole process. As I walk into class a sense of deja vu comes over me. I find a spot in the middle of class and settle in, ready to give my all.

Chef Rob and Chef Dale are our instructors, I think. Chef Rob gave some really good lectures about what to expect not only from school but also in our chosen careers. Chef Dale sat in class making me feel as though the principal was making his presence known and threw in a few anecdotes here and there. I was a little bummed out by the fact that I'm not involved with all the fun stuff that goes with the Culinary Program, but at least the Bachelor Program give me a little more leverage when I ever the work force. After a lecture and a good Q&A session about the wonderful world of sanitation, we are dismissed and I leave feeling really good about my decision for the rest of my life.

Cassandra Welch

New Culinary Students at Platt North

Today was a VERY long day! It is the first day of a new quarter, and as I sit in my office it is almost 8:00pm. My day started at 7:00am, wondering if I was going to have enough uniforms, books and eventually knife kits. We had a total of 49 students start in the AM Culinary Arts group. About 5 of them are Restaurant Management Students here at Platt getting their Bachelor Degrees, but will have to go through the first part of the CA program. Night time rolled around and we had 14 students show up for our CA PM Group. A great number.

In the coming days I will be featuring "Guest Bloggers" from these three programs, giving their perspective of the first week at Platt College. Wish these students luck. My first impression is that there are some great students, and this is a great fit for them.

The first day of school is always a bit scary! RELAX!