Have you ever heard a person refer to someone being as “happy as a pig in $h!+?” No? Well, maybe you didn’t grow up in the deep South like me, but trust me, it’s a thing.

This Labor Day marked the one-year anniversary of my unlikely decision to embark on a culinary career. The defining moment occurred in Colorado, when I was promoting my father's brand of hot sauce at a Whole Foods grand opening (a relatively recent side project to distract him from his other, ridiculously full-time job).

Suppose you want to be in the food business – where to start? You can watch all episodes of Restaurant Impossible or Kitchen Nightmares. You can set up a pop-up lemonade stand in front of your home and hope it gets discovered by the New York Times. You can even jump into a part-time job at your favorite bistro and hope it leads to great opportunities. But for those with more serious ambitions, a great entry point is the School of Culinary Management at ICE.

This time of year always brings back memories of apple picking with my family. It was a great time to escape the city streets, enjoy the fall weather, meet up with cousins who lived upstate and — of course — picking far more apples than an average family would ever need.

As the food industry continues to grow, it’s important to think critically about the dizzying range of options. Career development is an ongoing process that involves a lot of self-reflection and research. At ICE, we introduce students to this process through a seminar called “Finding the Right Food Career for You”, in which take stock of their preferred work environment, discover their personal learning style and consider culinary careers that match their individual personalities.

Food is often the easiest gateway through which we navigate new territory and access cultures different from our own—eating is a language we all speak. We can learn a lot about a region and its people by what they cultivate, and ultimately, by what they put in their stomachs. So, when traveling, I find the best way to cut through the sensory overload a new environment presents is to search for what the locals eat, their rituals and traditions.

The process of choosing your future is an equal combination of inspiration and preparation. When it comes to careers in food, a strong sense of inspiration is often what comes first, but without a clear plan—not to mention the resources and information to help create one—it can be tough to feel prepared to make a decision.

Julia Child can remember the meal she that changed her life: sole meunière, her first meal in France, and "the most exciting meal of her life." Before that, she says, she didn't know that food could be both simple and good, better still because of its simplicity and sheer foodness.

Beyoncé says, “Who runs the world? Girls.” and, as it turns out, they now run many kitchens too. We’ve noticed this first hand at the Institute of Culinary Education, where females make up at least 50% of our student body.

There have been times in the past when restaurant week came around, and it didn't matter much to me. This year was different, completely different. As a culinary student, it was a whole new world. Constantly tasting everything with an open mind, it's as if I'm a child learning to familiarize myself with new flavors, aromas, textures and sensations.