Why Do I Want to be a Registered Dietitian?

People often ask me what prompted me to want to be a Registered Dietitian.  I already had a career as a chef, so why change?

I have always had a passion for food; I grew up loving to eat it which turned into me loving to cook it.  I became the Executive Chef for a hotel in Laguna Beach by the time I turned 26.  People in the industry know this is not an easy achievement.
Before I reached this goal of mine, I had a chef who liked to challenge me.  The Aries in me loved this!  Unfortunately I didn't love the way he went about it.  It was always, "you can't do that," or "that is not a realistic goal Kelly!"  Well, for all of you Aries out there, tell us we CAN'T do something, and we WILL prove you wrong!  I had heard someone talking about going to school to be a dietitian and wanted to know more about what that entailed.  I asked my chef what was involved to the process of becoming a dietitian; he looked at me and said, "you don't want to do that!  You will never do that, it is too much schooling!"  I tabled it for the time being, but it grew more and more in the back of my mind.
After I became an Executive Chef, I was happy with my accomplishment, but I wondered if that was it.  I knew that I would never have learned all that I could learn in the culinary arts, but I also knew that I would not be learning anything further where I was, because there was no one above me to teach and mentor me.
As I mentioned before, I love a good challenge.  So I took this opportunity to really push my goals again.  I had already accomplished some pretty large goals in my life thus far, so why not add another on the list to tackle.
I decided to go back to school to become a Registered Dietitian.  This is going to be a longer process for me, because of two reasons.  One, I only took a few community college general educational classes out of high school, because I knew I wanted to be a chef and go to culinary school.  For this reason, I have to pretty much start from scratch at a community college.  The second reason is because I also work full time during the day to pay my mortgage payment.  For this reason, night classes aren't as easy to come by.  They fill up quicker and are not as easy to take two at a time because they overlap.  I have been taking all four terms per year, trying to get as much done as my schedule possibly allows.
I am only in general ed right now, but I am super excited for my new start.  My new journey down a different avenue of food should be a very exciting one!  I can't wait to share all of my ups and downs along the way. In-between all of those posts, I will be sharing recipes I have created, tried, liked, dis-liked... and sharing all of my experiences with everyone who is just as passionate about food as me.

*UPDATE*
I have completed and graduated (with an Associated of Science in Biological and Chemical Sciences) for the community college level.  I am now going to CSUN to continue my Bachelors degree, and next to the didactic program.