Rudy J. Mazzetti Culinary Arts Scholarship

Hi, my name is Tyler Small, and I am currently working toward my degree at Johnson and Wales University. I was born in Tracy, California, a hour from San Francisco, which is where I spent the majority of my early life. What initially drew me to the culinary arts was very simple, good food! I loved to eat as well watch my family eat the food I would make. I was lucky to find a high school near me that had a culinary program which allowed my love for cooking to grow. Unfortunately, my life was turned upside my sophomore year. My brother, my rock and the person I looked up to the most, took his own life. For 3 months I wasn’t able to find the energy or motivation to do school work or go to class. I fell into a hole of laziness and depression which I thought I wouldn’t be able to escape from. I had teachers and counselors advise me to take a gap year because they didn’t think I could recover. However with support from my closet friends and family, I found a new purpose that pushed me to work as hard as I could to pass my classes and graduate on time. My brother was my biggest supporter, always pushing me to work harder and to follow my dreams of becoming a chef. I decided that I would work not just for myself anymore, but for him as well. I threw myself into my studies managing to pull grades from all Fs to As and Bs in the span of a semester. With that memory of his supper burned into my mind I succeeded in graduating on time and getting accepted into one of the most well known culinary schools in the US. I haven’t just focused on school either. I’ve made sure to volunteer whenever possible to help bring a positive impact to my community like making thanksgiving meals for the homeless and less fortunate and volunteering at my local food bank and soup kitchens. Where ever I go, I keep my brother’s memory alive by sharing his story so that people won’t have to go through the pain and hardship I went through. It is my dream to become the chef my brother wanted me to become, to help heal the world through good food, and then go onto support the next generation of chefs and bakers. I want to go out into the world and absorb as much as can so that I can return to where I started and pass my passion and love for cooking to those who come after me.