Initially, I did not want to go to college at all. I wanted to join the Marine Corps but my dad told me: “If you’re gonna get shot at you ought to go to college and become an officer—you’ll make more money doing so.” I begrudgingly attended Wyoming Catholic College’s PEAK summer program, and was blown away with the caliber of the upperclassmen leading it. I knew I needed to have whatever nameless quality they had about them. I was hooked.

The entire experience at Wyoming Catholic is so rich and intertwined that it is difficult to parse out its separate elements. Much of it was challenging for me, but in retrospect I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Without a doubt, my favorite aspect was the people, especially my classmates; the sheer breadth and intensity of shared experiences has gifted me with intense friendships. To be honest, I struggled with academics the entire four years I was there, and it was those friends that pulled me through.

Food had always been a thing that my family shared as a way to communicate, but I never really cooked until I attended PEAK. There, I discovered the satisfaction of preparing a meal while starving in the backcountry—we dumped all our ingredients together to create a Mac and Cheese. That act of creating something spectacular from not a whole lot spurred me on and I went home and asked my mother to teach me how to cook. This continued with various food service jobs in college.

My dream was to start a food truck and eventually a restaurant, but I realized that high quality baking was in highest demand. I currently bake what I believe to be the highest quality, best tasting and best looking breads in my corner of Virginia, under the name of Working Man Bread Co. The focus is working towards the motto “bread with integrity” and I work hard to source local, healthy ingredients. We do farmers markets on the weekends and during the week supply about 16 restaurants and stores with a select number of specialty breads.

Ultimately, I want to combine the principles of classical western tradition with the fundamental nourishment of food in an exciting way that creates room for honest conversations: a bakery space for food and hospitality.

It’s an unusual path I’ve taken, but I’d say that is all the more reason to have a foundation in a classical education. You learn how to learn, and that is one of the most fundamental skills one can have. I hope that anyone who attends Wyoming Catholic is also able to have the intensity of experiences, richness of culture and bonds of friendship I have been fortunate enough to receive.