Margarita had a dream of becoming a teacher; her second dream was to become a Chef. For several years she taught at Evanston High School in the bilingual program for special education.

Margarita took some time to take care of her fourth grandchild, and when her grandchild grew up, she returned to the workforce. She took a job working for Subway for two years and then she worked at a Greek restaurant until she was hired at Northwestern University (NWU) as a Cook.

While working for NWU, Margarita started the process of applying to culinary school and the pandemic happened, so she was not able to enroll at that time. She continued to work as a cook at NWU and ran across an announcement from UNITE HERE Chicago Hospitality Institute (UHCHI) offering a no-cost
8-week intensive culinary program; she applied, and Margarita was accepted into the July 2021 cohort for the UHCHI Apprenticeship program.

Everyone knew right away that Margarita was a serious person and was taking this opportunity seriously. She was diligent in the training: arrived early daily, asked questions during lectures, provided feedback during kitchen lab and she was a great team player in the kitchen. Margarita was committed and ended up being a shining start in the program. You could see she was proud to be on this journey towards becoming a Chef de Partie.

Margarita successfully completed the 8-week intensive culinary program with UHCHI in September 2021. By the end of the program, she remained serious and confident, but there was a different type of confidence and warmth present; Margarita realized she had achieved a long-awaited goal!

Margarita’s husband joined her at the UHCHI banquet in March 2022 and announced she had recently been promoted to a Lead Cook role at Northwestern University. She had worked there for four years as a cook and with incremental raises, she was earning $15.45/hour. Margarita is now earning $22.88/hour in her new Lead Cook position. She now has weekends off and can spend time with her husband and family.

Margarita is proud of what she learned while in the program. She feels more knowledgeable and organized in her work, and at the age of 61, she feels accomplished. She is proud of her accomplishments and shared that the quality of her work is so much better, which makes her even more proud. Margarita is encouraging others to take advantage of the training being offered by UHCHI, “It is available to everyone, so don’t miss the moment.”