Perseverance is key

With the message that perseverance is the key to success, Chef James Haas came to visit Page Avenue on Friday, Nov. 2.

Haas, a culinary arts instructor at the Capital Region Career and Technical School, asked students what their goals were, and emphasized that they needed a plan in life.

He talked about his own passions, such as his love of cooking and eating. Now, Haas considers himself lucky that he gets paid to cook, and is proud that he owned his own restaurant for 12 years. Haas explained that he opted to own and run his own restaurant in order to control his own work schedule and spend time with his family when he wanted to. In addition, Haas talked about his artistic abilities as a welder, a woodworker and said he enjoys building computers.

"How do you do it all?" a Page Avenue student asked Haas.

"There are 86,400 seconds in a day," he replied. "Bill Gates also has 86,400 seconds in his day and look what he has accomplished."

His passion for his work, and his commitment to being a life-long learner was very evident to the students. He handed out the Capital Region Career and Technical School Course Guide so students could look into the various areas of study available at the school and made it clear that everyone should begin to think about his future academic goals.