When Rosa Espinoza graduated from Memorial High School in 2007, she had no idea what the road ahead of her might hold. But she knew there would be food there when she arrived.
Born of Ecuadorian parents, Espinoza said her love of food was instilled in her at a young age. “In my household, the kitchen was the heart of the whole house,” she said. “I cooked with my grandma ever since I can remember.”
Espinoza spent her childhood watching Julia Child on PBS and hours poring over the Food Network when other teens were watching videos on MTV.
“If you want something, you have to go out and get it.” – Rosa Espinoza
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Espinoza stayed true to her passion by finding scholarships which enabled her to attend the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in February 2008.
“Once you go to CIA you eat, breathe, and live food 24/7,” she said. “Food is paradise.”
Espinoza learned about the culinary arts hands-on, as she studied the quality of food and memorized different types of apples and lettuces.
An 18 week externship at Gayle, a small fine dining restaurant in Philadelphia that uses local and sustainable foods, helped her learn more about her field and gave her a dose of reality while she crashed at her cousin’s pad.
“I got exposed to different cooking techniques,” she said. “And it helped me mature and know what I wanted to do.”
When she returned to campus for her second year, Espinoza found herself enamored with the healthy aspects of cooking during a nutrition course.
Determined to break free from a family history of diabetes, she became a vegetarian and sought out more information.
When she heard CIA alum Ann Cooper, aka the “Renegade Lunch Lady,” speak about the importance of healthy cooking in schools, Espinoza became dedicated to the cause.
Change of plans
Espinoza graduated with her associate’s degree in October 2009 and was supposed to start her bachelor’s program at CIA in January 2010, but financial woes struck.
She said the same amounts of financial aid were no longer available and she was financially unprepared to take on the costs herself, so she hit the job market.
Within one week of being without a job Espinoza, who had worked almost all of her life while she attended school, found herself crying and feeling desperate.
Fortunately, by November 2009 she found a full-time job as a banquet server at Embassy Suites in Secaucus through an online job search.
Espinoza attributed her quick success in finding a job to the diverse experience that she gained at school. Though the transition from school to work was “rough and rocky” at times, she said it’s been an overall great experience.
“You realize that you have to work in order to be satisfied,” said Espinoza. “If you want something you have to go out and get it.”
Back to school
Espinoza’s work has paid off and she will be returning to CIA to begin studying for her bachelor’s degree in August.
“Working here has been awesome,” she said. But her work won’t end when classes begin. Espinoza will need to continue working full-time when she returns to school in order to pay for her classes.
After graduation, Espinoza hopes that she will be working in California with Ann Cooper to bring awareness about healthy eating to schools.
But she’s not ruling out the possibility of coming back to West New York to work in the school district, which has been lauded regionally and nationally for its healthy schools programs.
“It would be great to come back and participate in those types of changes,” said Espinoza.
For this year’s graduates at her alma mater, Espinoza had one bit of advice – never back down.
“Follow your passion no matter what,” she said. “Give 110 percent and it’ll pay off.”
Both school and work take sacrifice, she added, something she has come to know firsthand.
Lana Rose Diaz can be reached at ldiaz@hudsonreporter.com.