GROWING up in the care of a single father of three who struggled financially as a farmer, Neviene Anglin had to forfeit her high school graduation and sitting Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) external exams, often spending days in the fields instead of the classrooms.

Now a range cook for VIP Attractions — an airport concierge and lounge service company at Club Mobay inside Sangster International Airport at — Anglin said she is one step closer to achieving her dream of opening a restaurant and creating a better life for herself and her son.

“It feels amazing; the feeling is very exciting. It is like my journey is just beginning. It’s like the future that I always think that I want to have with my restaurant is finally happening. It feels like this is the beginning of pursuing my dreams,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

A lover of the culinary arts, Anglin shared that her cooking journey began when she was in grade three. Her mother had left the family and her father had to raise three children by himself.

She said it soon became difficult for her father to tend to the fields and take care of his children, so he decided to teach them how to cook — a life lesson she’d hoped would later blossom into a career.

“He would say, ‘Look, it’s not all the while I’m going to be around so you guys have to learn how to cook from early.’ When he was younger he had to learn to cook from early also, so we had to learn how to cook ourselves.

“He would teach us everything. He would bring us into the kitchen and say, ‘This is how you knead your flour to make a dough’; ‘This is how you peel your banana and how you clean our chicken properly’; ‘This is how you do this and this is how you cook soup’,” she recounted.

The more she learned, the more Anglin said she fell in love with cooking.

A sharp knife became a staple in her kitchen and was the only thing she said she needed, along with her spices, to whip up some delicious food.

She shared that one of her most unique dishes is saltfish peanut soup, which is very popular with the Rastafari community. But while her dream of becoming a chef was strong, the funds were weak.

Anglin told the Sunday Observer that her father had no money to pay for her to attend culinary school or sit her CXC examinations. She was subsequently unable to graduate from high school because she did not do the external exams.

Though her spirit was crushed, she held on to hope that one day things would get better.

While working at an auto repair shop in Montego Bay she came across flyers advertising the Institute of Vocational Education and Skills Training (INVEST) Jamaica, which equips at-risk youths with the necessary skills to excel in the hospitality industry. She later found out that the courses were free, submitted an application, and started classes in June last year.

Anglin graduated in November and was trained at VIP Attractions, where she is now a member of staff.

“I am so happy that this school is available for persons out there like me so we can have a chance to go there and show the world our talent and skills.

“It really changed my life a lot because growing up, I didn’t have any subjects, and I have something to show now if I’m going to look for a job somewhere else otherwise from VIP Attractions. I have my qualifications to show that I am well certified in my range cook position,” she added.

She is also particularly proud that she is now in a position to take care of her son.

“I feel so good that I can finance my son’s education, give him things that I never got when I was younger, be a good mom, and let him know that, ‘I grow a certain type of way and I don’t want to let you grow that type of way.’ He can also learn from me as a mom, to know to never give up and that the time is never too late for [him]. He can still pursue his dream, no matter how old he is, and go to school, get his certificates, and come out to be what he wants to be in life,” she told the Sunday Observer.

“When he’s at school he is always telling people, ‘My mother is a chef’; ‘My mom can cook’. If I call him casually, he will say, ‘Mommy, what did you cook today?’ He’s just very happy for me,” she shared, adding, “It feels so great that my dad can be proud, and my mom was proud also when she heard about it.

“I feel so proud to break the generational curse,” said Anglin.

Now focused on gaining experience as a range cook, Anglin said she has bigger dreams of going back to school to complete the level three or four culinary certificate. She also intends to explore subjects such as business management so that she’ll know how to properly operate a restaurant.