Rutgers student pushes Culinary Arts aside to pursue education in Journalism

Growing up Daniel Yasi took a large interest in the Culinary Arts but quickly pushed his dream aside to pursue an education in Journalism.

Now that Yasi is a full time student, works part time and commutes over an hour away he doesn’t have time to continue to cook on the side anymore but wants to get back to it after college.

His dream is to someday open up a bar. He jokes that his friends and himself already have the name narrowed down to either “Daniel’s” or “Yasi’s”.

While he truly does enjoy writing and the career he’s pursuing in Journalism, Daniel wishes he could get back into cooking.

After school when he was younger, Yasi looked forward to coming home and cooking and creating new recipes with his mom. However he claims his mother always saw it as more of a hobby rather than a career.

Growing up, Yasi dreamed of going to culinary school but was quickly shut down by not only his school counselors, but also his parents.

After transferring to Rutgers University from Brookedale and commuting to save money, Daniel’s younger sister got accepted into Brookdale’s culinary program, the very one he wanted to pursue.

Feeling a little upset Yasi claims that his sister “got away with a lot more growing up” and that his parents “never cut him any slack”.

 “I was a little jealous - not going to lie” Yasi said about his sisters’ acceptance into the culinary program.

Daniel believes that his parents didn’t support his decision to follow a career in the culinary arts because they “expected more from him.”

While he truly does enjoy writing and the career he’s pursuing in Journalism, Daniel wishes he could get back into cooking.

“There just isn’t enough time right now” Yasi explains, “I’d like to get back into it, but I have to put it to the side for now”.

Rutgers has provided Yasi with a place to flourish as a writer and journalist but not as cook, which is something he will wait until after college to pursue once again.