Dereck Surges '11
Degree: BPS
Major: Culinary Arts Management
Hometown: Itasca, IL
Biography:
Getting a Kick Out of College
With Dereck Surges’ dual passion for food and soccer, you’d think no one would be more excited that the CIA has a highly competitive intercollegiate soccer team than him. Well…not exactly.
“The CIA’s soccer program really sold my mom,” Dereck explains. “She told me, ‘soccer is your life, it’ll keep you busy especially during those times when you might be homesick.’ So I talked to Murph (CIA soccer coach Michael Murphy) on the phone and that clinched it.”
Dereck grew up playing soccer in Itasca, IL, but the interest in food began in high school. He started cooking different dishes and got involved in a Technology Center of DuPage program during his junior and senior years. “It was basically Skills I and II for culinary arts, with some baking methods and front-of-the-house experience too. I did a ProStart competition with them, won state, and finished 10th in the nation.”
Things just took off from there. “I began cooking more at home, for the holidays, anytime I could,” he says. “It was like a sport for me.” His baking teacher at DuPage kept telling him to go to the CIA, and he followed that advice after a memorable campus tour.
“The tour was awesome,” he recalls. “Just the smell when we first got to campus, going through the bakeshops and kitchens. What an amazing atmosphere. It just felt right.” So right that Dereck enrolled in the college’s bachelor’s degree program in culinary arts management.
And the CIA has exceeded Dereck’s expectations both in the classroom and on the field. “I love classes, it’s a blast,” he explains. “You go into the kitchens, whip up some stuff, and you learn. Because we’re actually doing it, the amount we learn is insane.”
He feels confident that he made the right choice in going through the bachelor’s program. “It’s important to do, even if you just want to cook,” he explains. “You learn about other things—people’s mindsets, numbers, business. Especially now in the industry, you need a bachelor’s to do anything. There are high expectations, but I like it. It’s like sports—push, push, push.”
That push extends to the soccer field as well. “The soccer has been at a highly competitive level,” he says. “It’s been an adventure with the schedule being so challenging. Soccer really helped me learn to push myself. The physical part of it helps in pressure situations. Also, you need a release in our industry, and soccer is my release.”
Not surprisingly, Dereck’s career goal combines food and fitness. “My dream is to get a second degree in nutrition and work for some type of gym that serves nutritional food and drinks,” he says. “I’m very active, and in the fitness business, I could stay that way.”
Mom must be so proud!
