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Q: Hey, I am 17, female, senior in high school. First off, I had applied to two colleges with the intent of minoring in elementary ed. Both colleges have yet to reply to me. I am taking it as a sign that my major is filled or I just suck and they don't want me. Whichever it is, I am honestly looking at it as a sign. Don't tear me apart for what I am going to say next but I believe that not getting into the colleges on my initial major is God's way of telling me that's not what I should be doing with my life. I am re-thinking about becoming a baker, I had talked to my mom the other day after I had spent a good four hours making cupcakes and she said I should take baking classes and go to culinary school if I don't leave for college. That got me thinking that it's actually a great idea, I LOVE to bake, it makes me so happy when I am doing it, I bake all the time and I smile at my end results and I am always shocked when I'm looking at it telling myself "I made this". However, I hear getting a job such as this is hard. Where I live, the closest bakery is about 30 minutes away. I would love to take cake decorating classes, a local craft store does baking classes, but I am just scared that I wouldn't be able to find a baker's job. I know, I think to hard about things and a baker job may be easy but everything just scares me. I also was thinking about becoming a dermatologist after I had just gotten aquainted with mine, he said he had terrible acne when he was my age and his dermatologist changed his life and my dermatologist wanted to be like his so he went into the field. However, I'm bad at science so I think I ruled that out. I then thought that I would like to take writing classes, I love to write. So, I was wondering... would I be able to major in writing at my community college, while taking baking classes and be able to get a job pertaining to both when I get older or to be a baker, do I need culinary training at a University? I'm SO lost, please help me! Thanks!

You sound like one of my friends from high school! We called her Martha (as in Stewart) because she was always making delicious goodies and throwing elaborate dinner parties. She has gone into a concurrent program between a college and a university where you get a degree in business with a diploma in restaurant management and culinary arts. It all started with her cake decorating classes!

What you take all depends on what you want to do with your life. Personally, I would focus on the culinary side of things rather than writing for your major, since you're far more likely to get a job as a chef than in the literary field. I know several people who have gone to university for the arts or social sciences, only to go to culinary school because they can't use their degree. If you love writing, you could take some online courses or night classes.

If you want to run your own business, I would suggest going to school for business. If you just want to work under others, you can just go to culinary school. The nifty thing about being a chef is that you can do just about anything. You can open your own bakery, you can work in a restaurant, you can sell gourmet grilled cheese from a truck (there's someone who does that in my city). The opportunities are endless.

My friend, "Martha", has been decorating cakes for years. She's been building a portfolio by making cakes for birthdays, anniversaries, and even my wedding! You can get a kick-start now without a professional job. Just remember to take pictures!

You should do what you love. Don't suffer through 12 years of school to become a dermatologist if you're not passionate about it. Plenty of people have changed my life, but I'm definitely not going to go dashing off to do what they do! You're lucky that you do have a passion to follow.

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My name is Amanda and I'm 26 years old. I'm currently studying electrical engineering. Armed with a fairly odd sense of humour and a sunny outlook on life, I'll take on just about anything. I'm also cussedly stubborn, which has its ups and downs. Things get tough sometimes, and I've never been one to run from it.

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