Before starting Gateway this year I had heard it was a really good programme! I knew what I wanted my future to look like and I knew exactly what my career choice was. However I was still having doubts because cooking in a kitchen for your family is way different to cooking in a kitchen for about 100 people a day.

Mrs Mehrtens helped me get a placement at Speight's Ale House and I have been going every Thursday and doing a whole range of things from prepping food for the next day to making canapes, and also doing dishes. 

My unit for my Gateway placement was a canape unit. For this I had to do three hot and three cold canapes and get photos of everything I did. My supervisor from Speight's Ale House, Reuben, had to sign it off when I completed it.

Next year my plans are to do an Ara Level 4 Food and Cookery course in Wellington which I have already been accepted into. I think Gateway is a smart option because I have learnt so many new things and been able to work on things I already knew and been able to make them better.