Culinary Institute Student Spotlight: Will Bernard

Allie Beers

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), located in Hyde Park, New York is home to students from around the world. These students may come from different places, but the one thing they share in common is their knack and passion for cooking. These chefs in training dedicate their

college experience to learn all of the ins and outs of everything culinary and food.

Philip Bernard, or Will for short, is a student at the CIA who is working toward a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science. Bernard has always had a strong connection to the kitchen, but his interest in pursuing cooking as a career came in high school.

“I was on the wrestling team in high school so I really had to watch my diet and nutritional intake,” Bernard explained, “Because of this I was always cooking for myself and my family and I just fell in love with it.”

Bernard originally did not attend the CIA right out of high school. After thinking he had not gotten accepted, he attended a liberal arts college near his home in Indiana where he was majoring in economics with a minor in psychology. However, after a mix up with admissions at the Culinary Institute, his acceptance letter had accidentally not been sent out.

“After winter finals I had gotten the call that I was accepted and so I dropped everything I was doing there. I took the next semester off and got back into the kitchen and came in August,” Bernard said.

Bernard is pictured on the right

After having attended both a liberal arts school and now a culinary college, Bernard described some of the differences and how the culinary aligns their students with real life restaurant schedules. “I had my AM class which is more oriented to a brunch shift [at a restaurant]. I’ll get to class at 9AM and be done by 3PM,” Bernard said. “I also know bakers who have class at 11:30PM and won’t get out until early the next morning, which would be similar to a real bakery shift.”

After graduating, Bernard hopes to pursue a career in research and development of food. He is very interested in the technology around food, and why there are set protocols in place for handling specific machinery. Even though he wishes to start his career focusing on food-related technology, he does want to eventually have a kitchen of his own.

“I do hope I can own my own restaurant that’s higher-end,” Bernard said. “But I think that’s going to take awhile for me to get as much experience and knowledge as I’d like. I think that’s a 25 or 30 year down-the-road idea.”

The Culinary Institute has various different restaurants on campus. All these restaurants are open to the public and mainly run by the students, in effort to help them learn as much as possible for real life scenarios. For more information on the Culinary Institute visit their website: https://www.ciachef.edu.