Student Spotlight – Sohna Ravindran-Kandpal
Meet Sohna who is a recent Culinary Arts graduate and a current Pastry Arts student with Escoffier Online Culinary Academy. We hope you enjoy hearing her story!
I think I can pinpoint exactly when my interest in cooking and baking started. I remember being given a cookbook for kids when I six or seven and being fascinated by it. The images of the food were lovely, but even more fascinating was the idea that I could follow the instructions and actually make something that looked like those images. So, I did. With the help of my Mum, I meticulously followed a recipe for Coconut Pyramids. And, they came out of the oven delicious. I’d never been so thrilled.
From that day on, I followed my Mum into the kitchen often and watched her cook and bake. I started helping out and picking up as many tips as I could. I realized that I loved cooking, but I don’t think I ever imagined making a career out of it.
I cooked on and off while working in online advertising, back in India, but after I got married, I dived back into it. We moved around a lot to different countries, so I was able to experiment with different ingredients and cuisines. My husband was a game guinea pig and that did help. He mainly ate up my successes and my many failures. It also helped that my brother and sister-in-law encouraged my every effort. While they didn’t taste many of my creations, they commented on and liked every recipe picture I put up on Facebook, which spurred me on to try out even more recipes.
We finally moved to the US last year, and I started looking around for culinary courses. The traditional schools seemed very out of my budget, and then I stumbled onto an article for Escoffier’s Online Culinary Academy. I sent across an enquiry form, and before I knew what was happening, Sarah Larson had called and sold me on how absolutely brilliant this course was going to be.
And, it truly is a brilliant course. With webinars, detailed modules, assessments, amazing chef mentors and helpful admins, this course have helped me improve my cooking techniques to an advanced level. I’m confident about going out of my comfort zone and attempting dishes I wouldn’t have even considered earlier. It’s a wonderful feeling.
I’ve now enrolled in the baking and pastry course, and once done, I’d like to seriously consider a career in catering. I’m not sure where I’d like to set it up, in India or in the US, but either way I know that it’s something I’d like to pursue.
I would really recommend the Escoffier Online International Culinary Academy. It’s important to not only pay attention to the slides in the modules, but to also take advantage of the availability of the mentors. They’re a storehouse of incredibly useful information and so approachable that it helps move the course into a truly interactive experience. The fact that it’s an online course isn’t even a problem- it’s so well-structured that you’ll really learn as much as in a more traditional course. And, it’s definitely more affordable!
Sohna Ravindran-Kandpal
Culinary Graduate and Current Pastry Student
We thank Sohna for sharing this great story with us! Check out more of our student spotlight stories to see why our students chose online training, how they are living their culinary dream 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].
and stay up to date with Escoffier Online, industry news and the newest cooking trends
