[Jasper, Proud Anaiwan Man / Marrung Scholarship Recipient]
Jasper: Food is such a staple in everything. It's what brings people together and what keeps people alive. Being able to share all that knowledge is a beautiful thing.
The Marrung Scholarship is essentially a five grand grant that supports you throughout Years 11 and 12 in any pathway that you choose to pursue. It's a little financial support to help you get a head start and access the materials that you need.
I'm doing an apprenticeship as a chef at the European Restaurant and a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery. I'd love to be a chef and I'm very passionate about it. I'm enjoying it a lot.
Receiving the Marrung Scholarship allowed me to invest early on in all the professional equipment I needed, such as my uniforms, knives, and other tools. It also helped fund courses and things like that. Getting everything started really helped out a lot.
For me, it's opened up a whole new world, being able to invest in my craft and my career. Getting the right equipment and the right support makes a real difference.
I feel like me doing this and showing younger generations that they can do things like this, and that opportunities like these exist, is a good step. Hopefully, I can do more work in the future.
My head chef, Kyle, is a lovely man. He's very experienced and has worked in Michelin-star restaurants in London and all over the place. He's taught me so much and brought me up from the bottom, so I'm very thankful for him.
You become a family in the kitchen. The pressure and adrenaline during service, and even during prep, is an acquired taste, I think. But for those who love it, it's the best thing. I love it very much.
A Michelin star is definitely on my radar. To be the first Indigenous man to hold one is very much a lifelong dream. It's such a high achievement and recognition of all your work. To be the first of my people would be a huge accomplishment.
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[End of transcript]
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