As someone with an undergrad in political science who now works full time in fine dining—get your masters now and try cooking later. Honestly. I don’t think I can stress this enough. This industry will eat you alive and if you don’t have a back up plan for when your body and soul are burnt the fuck out, you will regret it. Don’t get me wrong—I LOVE what I do. But I’m tired. I’m really tired. And I don’t get paid enough and I don’t get benefits (not even PTO) and I’m away from my family most nights and I fucking hate cooking at home now. I’m headed back to school this fall so I can eventually pull myself out of cooking professionally. I don’t regret this path but god damn-i wish I had a back up plan (that was paid for) so I could have shifted gears years ago.