Student Spotlight: Delroy Wade

I was born and raised in Guyana, South America. At about age 10, my mother & I migrated to the United States. I grew up in Queen and Brooklyn prior to Enlisting in the United States Marine Corps, at age 18. I’ve been an Active Duty Marine for about 13 years now. I’ve been a divorced single parent since January of 2011. My son, Deon Wade, still reside with me here in Havelock, North Carolina. We will be here for another year and a half before we relocate again.

Presently, my rank is Gunnery Sergeant and my pay grade is E-7. I am stationed aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. I am the Maintenance Management Chief (MMC) for my battalion. As the MMC for my battalion, I am responsible for the combined maintenance efforts of the unit, whatever the echelon of command. I serve as a special staff officer to the unit commander under the staff cognizance of the G-4 and the Combat Service Support Section, with respect to organizational equipment maintenance management.

I am responsible for the management of maintenance administration, personnel & training, records & reports, publication control, equipment availability, preventive & corrective maintenance, supply support, and the proper use of maintenance related programs.

As you can assess from the previous paragraph, I am a very, very busy single, Active Duty Marine parent. Every day! I was searching the net one afternoon for assistance and guidance on how to manage my time more effectively with regards to learning how to cook better from the convenience of my own home. I knew for sure that attending a campus was not going to work for me. I came across Escoffier’s advertisement and was instantly hooked; I felt as though the (words & images) were speaking directly to me…we single parents LOVE convenience. I love to eat and I will try/eat literally anything. I feel that boldness should be a requirement for all “foodies”. After all, why serve something that we ourselves wouldn’t eat? I feel that foods bring cultures together.

My primary goal in enrolling in Escoffier Online was simply to build my confidence in the kitchen (as a man). I grew up in a culture where predominantly, the women were in the kitchen and I didn’t want to be dependent on someone else to that extent; I wanted to be a better provider to my son. My mission was definitely accomplished. I now have a lot of confidence along with much more knowledge and I am extremely excited to have taken this step (with Escoffier). I plan to stay as an Active Duty Marine for another 8-10 years and I will seriously consider becoming a Chef after retiring from the Armed Forces. Now that I’ve completed the course, I am going to work on obtaining my Logistics Management Bachelor’s Degree.

By the way, yesterday I received my certificate in the mail and I’m so excited. I am so proud of myself. No one else in my family has ever accomplished something like this. Not online or in a classroom, under the direct supervision of a Chef Mentor (which is something I’d love to do next in my life). I am so appreciative of Escoffier and its on-line opportunities. I’ve decided to go back and re-do the entire course all over again (the actual meals/assignments) so that I may master the dishes and hopefully get to the point where I may master the recipes as well, without having to look at my SRCs, etc.

Gunnery Sergeant Delroy D. Wade, USMC
Graduate of the Culinary Arts

We thank Delroy for sharing this great success story with us! Check out more of our student spotlight stories to see why our students chose online training and where they have ended up after completing the online program! If you have a story to share or would like to learn more about our program, please contact us at (877) 452-5489 or [email protected].