Inspiration Case

If you ask anyone the question, "Who inspires you the most in life?" more than 99.9 percent of the time they would have an idea of someone. That person does not necessarily have to be famous. I had the chance to sit down with Joshua Oubre, my professor, an instructor at Mississippi University for Women in the culinary arts department. Until now, I have not realized what valuable source of knowledge and experience a professor can be. In college, your professors can provide great insight into the course of study you choose and often can be great mentors. Once I gotten the chance to talk with him, I realized the possibilities and how hard you have to work to achieve a degree in culinary arts and make a great career out of it.

He grew up around cooking food his whole life. Mr. Oubre said, "For breakfast we talked about lunch, for lunch we talked about dinner, and for dinner we talked about what we were going to barbeque on the weekend." In Louisiana, his culture is best told through the food, which is Cajun. It is common for the men to cook where he is from, which both his grandfather and dad both cooked for the family. Mr. Oubre started his career washing dishes at the age of seventeen in his sister's restaurant and worked his way up. Being around food and cooking made him want study at Nicholls State University for his undergraduate degree.

After working in restaurants for years and loving to teach others, Chef Oubre decided to study at the University of Southern Mississippi for his graduate degree to become a professor. He has been teaching at Mississippi University for Women for six years and has worked in the food service industry for fourteen years. Chef Oubre is one of the instructors for the intro culinary class. In this class, you learn the career options in culinary arts and the food and hospitality industry and the basics in kitchen operations.

A lot of people go into culinary arts and think it is just about cooking, but it is not. To work in this industry and be successful, you have to want it. Chef Oubre said," The food industry is just as harsh as trying to get a music career or an acting career; it will eat you up and spit you out, if you let it." He stated that you will have to be able to deal with all types of people from all types of backgrounds, stress and pressure is inevitable. You will even have to give up certain things, especially if you have plans on working in the restaurant end of the industry because it takes a lot of time and attention.

Not all of the industry is negative, it does have positives. You will meet a lot of people from different backgrounds that will have different food techniques because of their culture. This would inspire you to be creative if you take the time and learn from others. Of course, all the new foods you will be able to discover and taste is also great too. Chef Oubre said, "I love my job because I am able to learn from