Senior Ji Ho Choi was one of six students in the United States invited to compete in WorldSkills competition in Kazan, Russia. He will be competing in 2019 for the world championships in the culinary field, where he will be tested on tableside and restaurant service.
According to the WorldSkills Kazan 2019 website, the program hosts these competitions every two years. It brings “young professionals” from all over the world and gives them a chance to win a prestigious medal in their field. The competition brings around 1,300 students from nearly seventy countries, maybe even more.
“I feel very blessed to be accepted into this program as it has helped me grow to become a better chef,” said Choi.
For this competition, students generally go into their training programs with basic knowledge about their skill and learn more about it throughout the year.
“Skill does not matter; everyone comes in with basic knowledge, but throughout the year you slowly gain the knowledge,” said Choi.
Choi is currently in a program run like a restaurant where the students make different foods every week. The program is self-funded, so the students usually sell any food they make to customers. They spend most of their time learning how to cook, bake, and gain skills throughout the year to help them grow as chefs or bakers.
“I am able to practice for the upcoming competition so that I can do better,” said Choi.
Choi was selected as one of the six people from the United States to go to Kazan and show off his skills. Although the competitions are from August 22 to August 27 of 2019, competitors are trained through programs that allow them to get better throughout the year. Choi hopes to grow as a chef and learn more about different foods from his training and the competition itself.
“We learn many different cooking techniques that range from different countries and I hope to learn [how] to make sashimi,” said Choi.
Not only is he going to the competition, Choi also hopes to pursue a career in culinary arts and hopes this program and competition will help him with his career path.
“I plan to go to a culinary college in North Carolina called Johnson and Wales.” said Choi. “I would be able to pursue my knowledge and gain connections to big businesses that could employ me someday.”
His motivation to pursue this competition was from what he decided to do with his life and to become a better chef. Even though it was competitive, Choi took the chance and decided to apply to compete for the world championships.
“I knew what I wanted to do with my life, and so I sought after ways I could learn more about cooking and found out about this program,” said Choi.