The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Stirring into success
Brittnee Rourke gains confidence to chart her path in the culinary world
October 19-23 is National Transfer Week.
Lorain County Community College is celebrating by sharing the stories of students who started at LCCC and transferred to four-year institutions.
Brittnee Rourke began her first semester at Bowling Green State University this fall.
And while she was new to BGSU’s campus, she arrived with junior academic standing and an associate degree in culinary arts already on her resume.
By starting her education at Lorain County Community College and transferring, Rourke gained confidence in her academic skills and a clarify in her career path.
“At LCCC, I was able to get ahead, save money and figure out what career I want to have,” Rourke said. “LCCC let me see the many options I have with a culinary career and my mentors helped me decide which path I wanted to go down.”
Rourke came to LCCC with a clear plan for her future.
She’d been working at a family restaurant for several years and planned to earn LCCC’s associate of applied business degree in culinary arts and then transfer to a four-year university for a bachelor’s degree in business.
With those credentials, she would open her own restaurant.
That plan may have stayed in place, she said, if not for the mentorship of the faculty of LCCC’s Culinary Arts program.
“The chefs really opened my eyes about what else I can do with a culinary degree,” Rourke said. “I had thought that opening my own restaurant or being a chef in a restaurant was the main thing I could do, but they helped to explore so many other options.”
With the support of Chef Adam Schmith, Chef Brad Ball and Chef Ashley Black, Rourke began to expand her ideas of what her future could hold as a culinary graduate and chef.
Through the connections of the LCCC chefs and her LCCC academic advisor, Cassandra Tenorio, Rourke began to shadow people in the area who work in culinary related fields.
“I was able to spend time with people and learn what they do each day in their careers,” she said. “It helped me understand how many different opportunities I had with a culinary degree.”
Ultimately, she found her passion during a tour of the lab of a local food science company.
By the time she earned her associate degree in culinary arts in May 2020, Rourke had a solid plan for her future.
“My goal is to work for a company in their test kitchen, developing recipes that can be used on a larger scale,” Rourke said.
She transferred this fall to BGSU to earn a bachelor’s degree in nutrition science.
Rourke entered classes ready to go to work, thanks to her experiences in the kitchen at LCCC.
“At LCCC, I was able to get ahead and learned so much,” she said. “Alot of my classes transferred, so I am able to focus on the main classes for my nutrition degree at BGSU.”
To help fund her bachelor’s degree, Rourke received the Ohio Transfer Council’s David Gall Memorial Scholarship.
The $1,000 scholarship was awarded to Rourke due to her high academic achievement at LCCC, her involvement with LCCC programs and her plans to get involved at her BGSU.
Rourke has always known she needed to be smart about the cost of higher education.
So, when she was still a high school student at Marion L. Steele High School in Amherst, Rourke took college courses through LCCC’s College Credit Plus program.
During her high school years, Rourke completed an English class, a nutrition class, and a television broadcasting course.
She graduated high school in 2018.
Her academic achievements qualified her for LCCC’s Diversity Incentive Award scholarship, which covered nearly all the costs of her associate degree.
And because she had completed a few core classes through LCCC’s College Credit Plus, she was able to give herself the opportunity to take more classes and explore her interests.
As Rourke heads toward her future, she feels well prepared with the foundation she built at LCCC.
And she feels thankful to be an alumna of a very special culinary program.
“The LCCC culinary program is truly destined to become one of those great schools you hear about,” Rourke said. “I’ll never forget the connection I have with the chefs; they truly care about each student.”
For more about LCCC’s Culinary Arts program, visit www.lorainccc.edu/culinary. To enroll in classes for spring semester, visit www.lorainccc.edu/spring2021.