Is Culinary School a Waste of Time?

After I finished college, my father surprised me with the news that he had socked away a little money for my first year of graduate studies. Poor guy. He thought I’d opt for law or an M.B.A. but had no idea I’d tap in for cooking school. “It seems like a waste,” he protested.

I hated my starter job in market research and de-stressed from it by cooking obsessively every night. I...