Should I drop out of high school to pursue my chef dreams Veeky Forums? If no, then why not?

If you drop out of high school, you are doomed for failure unless you have some incredible life story you can base an autobiography on.

I'm currently a sophomore. Soon to be Junior.
Why is that? What if I make a decent living?

Nah, you can do fine, be prepared to put in way more work than highschool takes though, and accept the fact that you have no safety net to get anything more than literal bottom of the barrel jobs.

This. without at least a HS diploma or GED, you're going to be fucked when it comes to job ops. No one is going to offer you shit unless someone gives you a foot in the door or if you've racked up tons of experience somewhere. Tough it out for the HS diploma, or study to take an early exit exam, THEN figure out about cooking careers.

Just a heads up-

-Your first jobs will be shit and remain shit for a long ass time. Expect long ass hours, nights and weekends for very little pay, even in swanky places like LA, even with your Culinary School diploma. I'm talking about head chefs at fancy oyster bar places in Studio City California earning only $14/hr kind of pay. Basically unless you can room with other folks in the same boat, or still live at home after leaving High School, you're going to be living very poorly.

-Network early and often as much as you can so you can work at multiple different places to build out your resume and experience. Try to find styles of food you enjoy cooking and prepping to break up the stress and monotony. Shit like crushing hundreds of cloves of garlic to make garlic paste gets fucking old real quick.

-Invest in good shoes with good inserts. (Shoes for Crews specializes in stuff like this) Learn your knife skills, and maybe invest in 1-2 high quality chef/paring knives to practice with if you're dead set on pursuing this.

Otherwise, just be prepared for a lot of long hours and very hard work. Good luck.

>Tough it out for the HS diploma

I've never understood this. You literally just have to show up in order to "pass" high school. Why is it so difficult for some people?

No idea, I've known some folks that just can't handle structured environments for various reasons. Some came from absolutely shitty homes, knew a few guys who did absolutely shittons of drugs and came to class blitzed out of the gourds and passed out through each of their classes.

It varies from person to person. I can count on one hand the number of people I personally know who left HS early and actually did something productive with themselves, at least initially. Most were those wunderkids who were on an accelerated learning track and took all the available AP courses in sophomore year and just jumped straight into college after that.

>leave Veeky Forums until you turn 18

This guy gets it. Do your fucking homework, and eat your greens.

Because you don't really want to be a chef. You have some tarted up, idealistic vision of what being a chef is like. Maybe you like cooking a whole lot. But you have no idea what the grind is like, what the hours are like, what the bantz is like, what working with fucking retards is like.
Do you like cooking a lot? Then make it your fucking hobby. Too many fucking idiots follow that "make your hobby your job and you'll never work a day in your life!" shit. All that does is destroy your hobby and make you hate it.
Get rich first, then you can open your gay ass upscale grilled cheese food truck or whatever the fuck.

Yes, do it. Everone should live their life with at least one glorious regret.

>Too many fucking idiots follow that "make your hobby your job and you'll never work a day in your life!" shit
This actually does work out with plenty of hobbies though. Not really fair to use cooking as an example of how that mindset is flawed.

>what if I make a decent living
You will have a hard time getting a minimum wage job with no high school degree and no experience. They would rather hire almost anyone over some kid who dropped out of school. You already proved that you lack ambition, dedication, and a willingness to work.

Got to school. Get a degree in hospitality management. Live the dream of running a restaurant.

>You already proved that you lack ambition, dedication, and a willingness to work.
To be fair, so did you. You're on Veeky Forums.

I just got a text asking if I was op, go for your dreams but don't drop out, work hard and one day you'll make it! Or go to school for cooking

>drop out
>become a chef
that's two though

>Why is that?
Because potential employers will see that you're such a lazy sack of shit that you couldn't even finish high school and decide to hire someone else who actually got the diploma.
If you don't have a highschool diploma or a GED no employer will give you the time of day unless you have connections

> at least one
> that's two though
> Greater than or equal to one

This. Unless you get a gold plated recommendation from someone already working there or can demonstrate amazing prep/cleanup skills right from the get-go, every employer is going to see a lack of HS diploma as a potential liability, even for something as a dishwasher.

Do it faggot

>culinary schools are for suckers
I passed with high marks, 1,600 hours off my needed apprenticeship, and $1,500 cash in my pocket at the end of my Culinary Arts program.
Tell me again how Culinary schools are for suckers?
>entire course, $8,250

>love cooking
>dream of becoming a chef
>become a chef
>slowly grow to hate cooking
>stuck in a job I hate with my only passion killed

I suggest you do not do it OP.

If you're going to high school in the US of A then this applies to you
If you're anywhere else, well sorry but I don't really know your school system

Alright friend I'm gonna be real with ya, if you can't even complete the revolving door that is high school, what the hell is wrong with you? Barring some incredibly rare cases, dropping out of high school does nothing but hurt you
I'm currently of the mind that college may or may not be of value to someone if say, they don't have a reason to go, but high school isn't even babby league
It's just high school, enjoy it while you can
Hopefully, it won't be the best time in your life, but it can be a fun one
Not fun in the sterotypical goto underage parties all the time, but just enjoy the time you get to yourself since I'm assuming you don't work 40 hours a week

This isn't even considering that you may not really WANT to be a cook
Would you be willing to wake up before the sun even decides to shine over the horizon and work for minimum wage?
Are you willing to dedicate every fiber of your being to becoming a chef of merit?
I'm being a hit dramatic, but it's your life you'd be gambling with so ya know...

So tl;dr Finish high school you mong

Whoops.
> $1,500 cash given to me by the college at the end of the program

No - you should continue high school until you can get as much info as you can on how to get into University with the best chances of not having to spend extra money on taking classes you can already get out of the way in high school, learn how to pay for it all, what to expect, and how to have the best experience doing what you love in college, if it really is cooking.
Asking us about these things wouldn't hurt, you know?

Um of course you shouldn't. That's ridiculously stupid, you will forever regret not just getting your high school diploma while you had the chance. As others have said, just get a weekend job or start cooking at home more.

Oh and you can't post on Veeky Forums if you're under 18