Next step – Level 6!

Tonight is the last night of Level 5 at the French Culinary Institute where I attend school. That means I am officially in the home stretch! I can’t believe it, where did the past nine months go? I seemed to have survived so far, even though there were times of fear and doubt. Even a few tears, God how embarrassing.

Yesterday my boss asked me (for the 10th time mind you) “When do you graduate?” I told him next month and his reply was “then what happens.” I told him you get a diploma, a toque placed on your head, a glass of champagne and then call it a day. “But what does that mean for you” he asked. I stared back at him and thought to myself “I really don’t know” but actually replied “I get to check cooking school off my to-do list”. I don’t think that’s quite what he expected, because he looked at me quizzically, turned around, went into his office and shut the door. I am afraid my boss doesn’t understand me. Hell, I don’t even understand me.

It did get me thinking…what am I going to do? That damn clock on my blog is ticking, ticking, ticking. I feel like Marisa Tomei in the movie My Cousin Vinny…”my biological clock is ticking, ticking, ticking”…although trust me, it’s not my biological clock that concerns me. My concern is that I don’t dilly dally around anymore thinking I have all this time to figure out the big question of where I want my life to go. School is a great thing because there are plenty of connections to be had. I’ll start there. When I was 30 I was the oldest living intern at NBC. I was answering the phones in the complaint department. Yes, they actually had a complaint department. Believe me, when you cut into a soap opera with a special news report, people complain. And if Michael Jackson were still alive, I’d tell him that nobody liked it when you grabbed your crouch while singing at the Super Bowl. The calls flooded in. I can still see the lines lit up, blinking, waiting for me. People don’t hang up when they want to bitch about something. However that job later led to some amazing experiences outside NBC’s complaint department. After the panic of the mad blinking phone bank, I felt I could handle anything.

I keep hearing and reading that you have to be open to change. That change occurs when you are ready for it. When I graduate next month, I’ll be one step closer to being ready. I say, change, bring it on.