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Every third Monday, a gaggle of chefs-to-be begin studies at the CIA, and like freshman orientation anywhere, their faces are fresh with anticipation.
Their first lesson begins the minute they step into the room. And it's not in the basic principles of mathematics or techniques of roasting.
It's in keeping up.
On March 4, 82 new students from across the country began working on associate's degrees in either culinary or baking and pastry arts. While Monday and Tuesday were set aside for "orientation," the newcomers had little time to "settle in."
"We're aware of the quickness of our program," said Jack Rittel, an academic advisor, during a parent orientation session. "It's what makes our students great," he said.
"We demand a lot of our students," said Laurie Lecomte, director of enrollment services. "It's how we prepare them for what the industry is going to demand from them."
The two-day schedule seemed daunting enough, but what was on paper was only a hint of what the students actually face.
Chow time
By virtue of the sometimes delicate nature of their creations, precise timing is one of the secrets of success at the institute. The gentle reminder "promptly" is noted next to each meal on the two-day orientation schedule.
New students were scheduled 30 minutes to eat breakfast, which was prepared for them by their peers, a class of students who started working at 2:30 a.m.
"Registration" was scheduled between 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., but in those two and a half hours, the 82 students gained an intimate knowledge of the maze of hallways that make up Roth Hall, the main building on campus.
Students moved from line to line, consulting with representatives from health services, obtaining parking passes and mail box keys before venturing up stairs to visit the registrar's office to secure their place in classes and the office of student accounts so the school could secure funds.
Then, it was back down stairs to central issuing where each was measured for chef coats and pants and presented with more than 40 pounds of textbooks and a professional knife set.
The dozen or so commuter students in the group met with Alice Ann Schuster, dean of students, for a short session to caution them about the particular pitfalls of their situation.
"It may take you a while to get to learn your way around," said Schuster. "You are the new students and everyone knows who the new students are. But, look around, in three weeks, there will be a whole new set of students and you will no longer be the new students," she said.
Students are encouraged to account for weather and traffic because tardiness is frowned upon and, in some cases, may cause a student to repeat a course.
"You can't miss a class," said Lecomte. "Most of our classes are 14 day's long, and every day builds on top of the last. Especially for the classes that are just seven days, if you miss one day - that's eight hours of intense study on whatever subject you are in. That's a big deal here," she said.
Schuster admitted it's easy to fall into the trap of monotony with a new class of hopefuls entering the school every three weeks.
"I always seem to find the energy," said Schuster, "but it's very easy to burnout, saying the same things over and over again.
"I have a passion for it. I try to remember it's all new for the students and as important for the next group as it was for the last."
A new wardrobe
In central issuing, the well-oiled machine that is day one continues to roll.
Students are fitted for their uniforms by Frank Orlich, a 17-year employee of the CIA, and Dominic Mancuso, a representative from Identity Apparel, a Long Island-based company that has been outfitting the CIA staff and students for 15 years.
For the next six weeks, students will take courses in "traditional" classrooms, but for the classes that are held in the more than 50 kitchens on campus, students are expected to wear uniforms.
In just more than two weeks, Mancuso's company will deliver more than 400 chef coats, 400 pairs of chef pants, 160 neckties, 240 aprons, 240 side towels and close to 1,000 hats just to outfit the crop of students, who registered on March 7.
In addition, the 66 students enrolled in the Culinary Arts program will be provided with two pairs of black pants, three white shirts, an apron, a neck-tie and a vest for front-of-the-house (table) service.
In less than two minutes with each student, Orlich and Mancuso have the measurements they need to personalize the more than 2,800 pieces of clothing that will be shipped to Hyde Park for this class.
Across the small store room, Maryjean Tocco will dole out more than 880 textbooks, piled high in green tote bags bearing the seal of the CIA.
"We weighed it and it came in at more than 60 pounds," said Tocco of the bag. "We had to take some of the larger books out, because it weighted so much."
By 10:30 a.m., a majority of the students where already facing their first exam - assessment tests in math and writing.
After an hour-long session with members of the administration, the parent group was touring the buildings where their sons and daughters will study, eat and maybe even catch a wink or two of sleep for the next two years.
While most of the town was just beginning the day, exhaustion was already starting to creep across the faces of the new class - they still had five and half hours of scheduled activities ahead of them.
If anything, after a day like this, sleep should come easily for the new students. And they'll need it. Breakfast is served - promptly - at 6:30 a.m.
