Even though I am a big fan of Christmas parties, I still dread them.  People get a little weird around the holidays and it seems that you never know what to expect.  This can be a larger problem when at a work party, but it seems that even family gatherings can have their issues.

I ran into this problem tonight at the party hosted by my parents.  I only come home every second year, so it seems that my parent’s friends grill me even more as they have two years of gossip and news to catch up on.

The only new thing that happened over the last two years is that I started to attend one of the cooking schools  in Jacksonville, where I live.  I had always thought cooking was something that I was good at, and after being in school for the past four months, my marks prove I was right.

But it seems that the guests at the party all questioned my wisdom when it came to choosing to get a culinary education over following in the family tradition of becoming lawyers.

I was really quite taken aback by their assumption that tradition was more important than my freedom to choose what I wanted to learn.  In fact, I left the party early as I was tired of the inquisition – somehow they just couldn’t see that choosing my own career was my decision and not anyone else’s.

Technorati Tags: cooking schools, culinary education

While many of my fellow students have part time jobs to make some extra money, I thought that I would try something different.  I thought that college would give me the opportunity to try new things, so I thought it was the perfect time to try my hand at being an entrepreneur.

But my biggest challenge was trying to find some sort of business model that would work around my busy school schedule.  I didn’t want to have a large time commitment, nor did I want to start something that I was going to be married to, so that sure didn’t give me a lot of choices.

After brainstorming with a number of friends, I ended up deciding that offering a diploma framing service was going to be a perfect fit for me.  It is a pretty lucrative business with very low overhead (since I just order the frames that my clients need from the Internet), and there are really only two busy seasons in the entire year – December and April.

The first year was a little rough to get going, but now in my third year, I know that I have made the right choice.  The business is thriving and I think I might even continue it after my college days are over.  Not bad for my first business, right?

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I think that one of the hardest questions that I have faced in my life is what I want to be when I grow up.  Just as it is hard to define me by one thing, to think of being just one thing through the rest of my life is a scary thing.

I look back at my childhood and my dreams of becoming an astronaut or fireman, and I realize that those were simpler times.  It was so much easier back then to decide what you wanted to be since there were no restrictions on the realities that you would face.

Take being a fireman for example.  To this day, that is still something that I would pursue, but at the same time I worry about my safety, and the chance that something might happen to me.  As a child you don’t think about such things, and the important part is the cool fireman uniform and the red truck – the danger associated with the work doesn’t even come to mind.

It still scares me though that I have no idea of what I want to be.  I should know that by now (being in second year and all), but I don’t.  I just don’t want to make the wrong choice and be unhappy forever.

Technorati Tags: career, fireman, grow up

My brother-in-law recently decided to change careers. He was in a job at a financial institution, a job my husband had gotten him, and a very good job at that. But he often got frustrated with the job, which was to set up retirement plans for companies.

My brother-in-law used to be a cop, so granted an office job was a big change for him. But we were all dismayed when he announced he was going to the Middle East as a private security contractor. Not exactly what we had in mind when he said he was considering a career change!

I wish he would have considered a different type of career — something a little more, you know, safe. He could have gone to school for a mortgage education to get the licensing and qualifications he needed to become a mortgage broker, for example. He could have even transferred to another position in the same company he was at — something more people oriented, for instance.

His choices demonstrate how important it is to consider what you are doing before making a major career change. Think about how it will affect the rest of your life, and consider whether this is really the career that you want. And if you aren’t sure, don’t make any decisions that you can’t reverse later on!

Technorati Tags: career change, mortgage education, mortgage exam prep, security contractor

There seems to be many ways that you can say congratulations to a recent graduate.  Some of the many common gifts include such things as a car (yes, some graduates still get cars), a ring, money, and even something as simple as a diploma frame.

Some of these gifts will have a lasting impression (such as the graduation picture frame), while others will leave a temporary impression.  Though not all of these gifts may be appreciated as much as the others, they all let your graduate know that you are recognizing them for a job well done.

But how do you pick the perfect graduation gift?

It will depend on how well you know the graduate.  If you are in their immediate family (such as a parent, sibling or grandparent), you will be expected to give a larger gift than some aunt that visits only once per year.  Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to rush out and buy a car, or spend a lot of money.  Rather, this can me you make a little more effort to make the gift more personal.

But, if you are one of those relatives that rarely visit, or maybe a friend, you can buy a gift that doesn’t have the same monetary value as what would be expected from a close relative.  In many cases too, a little trinket can suffice.

Irrespective of the amount of money you spend on a graduation gift, make sure that it shows that you think they did a good job in pursuing their education and actually finishing their degree.  Remember: it is the thought that counts.

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I would like to think that I take my future seriously, so when it came time to pick out on school from the many cooking schools available to me, it was tough.  The caliber of the instructors to me was really important, and those on my list were very good.  In fact, that made the selection even harder.

But in the end, we can only ever go to one school and be in one place at a time, so I had no choice but to pick something.  Though some people would say that every culinary arts degrees are the same, I would have to disagree.  There are some schools out there that have better hiring rates and employer satisfaction, so I would have to add that criteria to my list too.

I have arranged to have a number of tours of a few schools in the area to see what they offer, how their facilities stack up, and it will also give me an opportunity to get a feel of what I should expect.  If they aren’t willing to let me have a tour, I think I will have to scratch them off the list.

So, I have my work cut out for me, but in the end it is my future and my education.  Is it too much to ask to have the best?

Technorati Tags: cooking schools, culinary arts degrees

When her husband passed away a few years ago, my Mother decided she was going to get out of the house and do something new and different with her life. After a bit of research and chatting with some friends she began to seriously consider enrolling at AT Still.

Most of her work was able to be completed online which allowed her to learn without having to fight traffic to get to the campus classrooms. She appreciated this a lot since the last job she had performed included driving all around town during peak drive times.

The more she learned about the health providing industry, the more she leaned towards a career in management and administration. She decided that she would work on an advanced degree at AT Still University and was soon able to complete requirements for a masters degree in health administration.

Now that she has an amazing job, is out of the house for the first time in years, she is happy. And not just that happy that people tell you when you ask them. The actual, real, true to the bone type of happiness that can only be described by having to be there to believe it.

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One of the colleges near me just announced that it is considering nearly a 10 percent tuition hike. That’s a substantial hike — and they’re not the only ones, either. Colleges across the U.S. are having to raise tuition in order to make up for lagging budgets.

The end result is of course that bachelor’s degrees are pricing themselves out of many students’ reach. Students that can no longer afford four-year degrees turn to two-year degrees and licenses, such as mortgage training.

Shorter programs like these have many advantages over longer programs. Obviously, it costs less to go to school for a year or two as opposed to four years. Another advantage is that you finish your education sooner, and can get into the work force and start earning money sooner, too.

Besides, if tuition has priced itself out of your budget, and your choice is between a shorter program and NO program, I definitely think you should go with the shorter program. Some training or education is always better than no education, as it makes you qualified for more skilled jobs that you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.

So I’m curious — what are tuition rates doing in your area? Are they going up there as quickly as they are in Colorado? What alternatives have you considered if you can no longer afford the tuition for a four-year program?

Technorati Tags: four-year degrees, mortgage training, tuition hike, two-year degrees

The time has come for me to make a career change. As I’ve begun the personal assessment process, there are two things that repeatedly surface for me: golf and cooking. Both are huge passions of mine. I could easily see getting into golf business management and learning to run the golf operations at a local course. Heck, I spend enough time and money at several of them in my area, that it would be a no brainer!

The great thing about so many career education offerings now days is that they come with bonafide certificates that hold their own weight. Just having a golf associate degree is enough to make me lean towards that route.

Of course, there are a number of culinary institutes that have similar offerings as well. In fact, for roughly the same amount of time I could get certified to be either a golf professional or a trained chef. Of course 2 years is not nearly enough to be a head chef or the lead golf pro. By opting to get secondary training and education, I would jump up the ladder much faster then many of those in their respective industries.

Either way, I believe now is a very exciting time to consider a career change.

Technorati Tags: golf associate degree, golf business management

With more and more people looking to train for new careers, cooking schools are becoming more popular with career changers. As a person who is looking to change careers, I have seriously considered undertaking a culinary education. This would allow me to train for a new career that would provide job stability.

Since education of any kind is an investment, I need a career that is local, portable and cannot be outsourced. Basically, I want job security, and with the right education and some hands-on culinary training, I know a career in the culinary arts field is a good choice because a good chef will build a quality reputation for himself/herself and will always be in demand.

Career changers make excellent candidates for culinary school training. No matter what the previous occupations held, we know the importance of meeting deadlines, operating an efficient business, managing time and daily operations, and understand the importance of excellent customer service. By combining past occupational skills with training from a well-respected culinary institute, I know the chances are good to one day either open my own bakery or become a culinary instructor. A chef school is just one way I can further expand my love of learning while training for a new career.

Technorati Tags: cooking schools, Culinary Arts, culinary education