Chef Terence!

By LA-jan - June 05, 2016

We had a big event yesterday!

Terry became Chef Terence!

He graduated after 5 years of braising, blending, boning, chopping,

(not to be confused with mincing),

chiffonading, clarifying, curing, caramelizing,

deglazing, deveining, demi-glacing, dredging,

egg-washing, emulsifying,

filleting, folding, frying,

grating, infusing, julienning,

kneading, macerating, marinading, mashing,

parboiling, paring, peeling and poaching,

reducing, roasting, sauteing, scalding, searing,

seasoning, shredding, sieving, skewering, skinning,

smoking, souvide-ing, steaming, sweating,

tenderizing, trussing, whisking,

and zesting (just to name a few)

He did it!

As a 4.0 graduate!

He was so very nervous early that morning as we arrived

Once on campus, we passed some familiar sights that put him at ease
and some familiar faces greeted him

He remembered his classes when he ran the booth and
helped sell concessions

He fondly looked at the ice sculpture and relived his memories of
ice sculpting with fellow students.

But, the time came to gather with his fellow graduates
and we found a seat as preparations got underway

It was rather inspirational really, all the faculty lined the graduates path

to the stage and greeting them with proud smiles and high 5's!

Such unbridled joy and enthusiasm, shouts of support and

cheer all around. This was no solemn occasion, this was an

event most of these people, these families never dreamed would happen!

And it was a witness to such dreams, such impossible

dreams that were being actualized!

I have heard personal anecdotes from Terry of fellow students

that he came in contact with, that he helped through difficult times

that he gave study tips to, that he helped get out
of tough spots, but I never witnessed any of the struggles

he was so personally involved with.

You could see it on the faces of the families

This woman came with her own frame that declared "I did it! Graduate of 2016!"

She was voted by the faculty as the student speaker.
Her speech was not only a testament to her strength and
fortitude, but to the faculty involvement and support.
She described how, as a child she was labeled "not smart" and a
"trouble maker". She told her parents she saw an 8 foot angel
and her parents thought she was "the chosen one".
Only later, finding herself homeless as a 13 yr old, on a fog of drugs
and struggling with depression , did she later find
out she was schizophrenic. She was helped into a
group home and encouraged to get her GED, never thinking she would make it.
But, she ended up in a college class, only to keep her from losing her housing
and found that she could do it.
She found a mentor in her faculty counselor, her professors
some of which fielded her frantic midnight phone calls
and kept her on track.
She failed out of her registered nursing program only
to be guided back into an LVN program. She made it through,
and now is graduating as an RN.
Really amazing. There are so many stories like that at this technical
college, so many that do not have such happy endings,
but this was a happy, joyous day for these graduates!