Is this Inspiring or is this a Potato? - Culinary School Over 40, Pt. 5
A fun week as I'm featured by my school's social media; inspiring the nation to never stop learning.
Perhaps this is your first time here, and in that case, I am Matt Biggers, a 40-something year old with no prior cooking experience attending Culinary School here in Louisville, Kentucky. I burn Pop-Tarts and specialize in preparing food so dry a jug of mayonnaise won’t save it.
Yet here I am enrolled in Jefferson’s Culinary Arts program. I like to think I show my fellow younger students what not to do, and they’re all better chefs as a result. Realistically, I am ignored by them as it’s a well-known fact old people have nothing to contribute and will die soon. I am delegated to the corner (of their mind) and that’s where I am to stay.
Unbeknownst to me, deep in the bowels of Jefferson’s bureaucracy, someone did notice me. Her name was “Olivia” and she worked for Jefferson’s social media team. Divine destiny (or was it me tagging Jefferson on Instagram?) led her to discover and delight in my ‘Culinary School Over 40’ blog series.
She reached out to me via Instagram, “Nobody puts Baby Matt in the corner.” Or perhaps it was something else? It’s hard to remember.
Olivia didn’t think I was too old (yet) to contribute, and perhaps my story would inspire other older students to take classes to help change or improve their career paths before their mortal demise.
An Inspiration to All
I was hesitant to participate, but it’s hard to say no when someone calls you inspiring. I agreed to shoulder the burden, to be the beacon of light for other potential older students who were near death like myself, but still wanted to learn.
Olivia knew I was a food and travel video creator starring in my mother’s favorite YouTube channel, and we connected over cameras and wireless microphones. We discussed story ideas and our ambitions ballooned. Olivia said her original idea was to create something short for social media, but my story was too dang inspiring.
The one-minute vertical video idea turned into a multi-pronged marketing campaign to be launched in April to coincide with ‘Community College Month.’ It was our humble thought that the story of a 40-something year old accounting systems analyst taking cooking classes would inspire other potential students to register for classes, to try a new career path, or simply explore a subject purely for fun.
Olivia continued her brainstorming. Perhaps we launch with the short video on social media, but link to a long-form version featured prominently on Jefferson’s website. After that, it was inevitable that local news would pick up my story and want to interview me again.
Olivia served up the Kool-Aid sweet and delicious, and I guzzled it down in deep gurgling gulps.
I was interviewed in the school library, and I wore my best white guy dad outfit I owned, but dialed it up a notch by wearing boots rather than the New Balances I mow my lawn in.
Olivia joined the next class, which featured potatoes, to film me in the kitchen to accompany this documentary masterpiece we were creating together.
The other students did not know what to make of this. Was I being featured by my nursing home’s newspaper? What if I died on camera from a heart attack? And who the heck let me out of the corner?
My cooking partner for the day and I fried potato pancakes (very similar to hashbrowns), roasted potatoes, and scalloped potatoes.
Olivia floated around the kitchen, filming me from various angles as I managed not to burn anything. The final video was taking shape in my head and I was excited for the possibilities.
Olivia completed her filming, reassured me she had everything she needed and thought the video was going to be great.
I felt inspired by all the inspiring I was going to do.
Are you there, Olivia? It’s me, Matt.
Several weeks went by and I heard nothing. I knew Olivia was busy and had other responsibilities besides our video, but I grew anxious.
I emailed her, trying not to sound anxious, “IS IT READY YET?!?!”
Crickets.
Self-doubt creeped in and I wondered if I had made a fool of myself in the interview. Did Olivia show the video to her superiors and they responded with a resounding “hell no!” and all of this time passing by was Olivia gathering the courage to tell me?
My horoscope said most definitely.
I waited patiently, but eventually gave up and learned to cope with the disappointment. There would be no video.
A Tiny Ray of Light…
An email from Olivia appeared in my inbox, “RE: Checking in.” The bad news had finally arrived.
Hi there! Sorry for the delayed response. I have been so swamped as I got more video projects added to my plate. I am editing your video now, but it will be a shorter version to fit with our other Community College Month videos.
Shorter?? But what about all the inspiring I was supposed to do?
I am definitely still producing a longer version though I will post soon after.
Phew!
Thanks for checking in! Hope you’re doing well! I’ll keep you updated when the shorter version and longer version are posted.
Olivia did share the shorter video on Jefferson’s Facebook and Instagram pages. Sure, they’re only a minute and a half long, but that’s okay with me as I resemble a large plump potato in the video. Maybe I’ll start exercising…or eat a slice of cake.
I prefer the Facebook version over the Instagram Reel as it is more faithful to the fullscreen cinematic glory Olivia and I first imagined when this project began.
It will be difficult for you not to be inspired.
She did a great job and I appreciate all the hard work that was put into this and I’m grateful to Jefferson for sharing my story.
This is a good life lesson too. We sometimes let things get to our head; inflating or destroying our egos, or feel entitled to shortcuts that “guarantee” our success.
Culinary School is like life: success requires patience, dedication, and a long-term commitment to excellence. Shortcuts may be ideal, but they’re a shaky foundation to build your life around.
Not all of us are destined to be The Next Big Thing; sometimes you’re just an old potato waiting to become hashbrowns.
And everybody loves hashbrowns.
All Good Things Come To An End
Thank you so much for reading. New posts to finish out the semester are coming soon. You may catch up on my entire Culinary School experience on Substack.
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