So this is one for all my nervous Year 11s!
As a blogger, part of my job is about endorsing UCB. But the other part is about being completely honest about my opinions. So on that note I’m going to share why I think you absolutely must come to a UCB open day.
This post does have some parallels with my post My decision to move to UCB. But it’s a massive, scary decision to leave the comfort of school and come to a completely different environment, so if I was you, I’d take all the advice you can get.
My decision to move to UCB was fairly rushed as I was angry about A-level options being cancelled at my school and leaving me with choices I was not particularly thrilled about. So luckily for me, after a massive strop (all I can say is God bless my mother with putting up with the rant of the century!) I came across UCB’s website which told me there was an open day in two days’ time. After a lot of bargaining on my part, my mum reluctantly came to an open day with me.
The open day…
Upon arriving at UCB I was firstly astounded at its sheer size and joked to my mum that there was no chance I’d ever find my way around. We followed the chef lecturer tour guide all around the bakery areas, as I’d originally intended to apply for a Bakery qualification. However, just out of curiosity, my mum and I hung around for the chef tour too – all I can say is thank goodness I did! Coming into the professional cookery facilities, things got a lot more exciting for me. I was completely gobsmacked looking into the amazing kitchens at UCB, especially places like the Atrium, UCB’s own formal fine-dining restaurant and kitchen.
My mum recounts the next thing I’m about to say as the moment she knew I was going to become a chef:
We rounded the corner in the Atrium kitchen into the pastry area. Set out were a lot of example dishes, and my face just dropped into a daze as that was exactly the sort of thing I’d always wanted to do. My mum said she looked at me and knew I was going to come to do the Professional Cookery course at UCB, and that my mind was 100% made up. And now, hand on heart, I can say coming to UCB was the best educational decision I’ve ever made.
The open day for me played an enormous part in this. Firstly, if I hadn’t attended one, I may have stayed on at A-levels which I wouldn’t have enjoyed as much. Secondly, if I hadn’t have come to the open day, I could have opted for Bakery and been on completely the wrong course. Either way it’s not a risk worth taking to apply without attending one.
So the next college open days are on Saturday 25 November, 11am – 3pm and Saturday 20 January, 11am – 3pm. Get to the UCB website to book your place now!
R.B