Finishing with a grade 10, a silver medal, HORESTA’s master knife, and a 3rd place in a competition for best film. All this is just part of the story of Elisabeth Petersen, who on 23 April completed the apprenticeship exam for the gastronomy education in TECHCOLLEGE in Aalborg. Arctic Consensus has had the pleasure of meeting Elisabeth and hearing about her education.
Elisabeth grew up in Qeqertarsuaq, Greenland. She lives in Nuuk with her partner, where she will now be returning to after completing her education in Denmark. Elisabeth is bringing home with her a lot of experience and many achievements. One of these achievements is winning an impressive 3rd prize in ‘best film’, which is an annual competition held by the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science, while studying under the PIU program (Internship Abroad). An program that Elisabeth has been a part of through her education, which took place partly in Greenland and partly in Denmark. Another achievement is the silver medal she has received for her outstanding performance throughout her education.
There is no doubt that Elisabeth is passionate about her field when she, among other things, tells us about distance learning while being at home in Nuuk. For the students who live in Denmark, the online classes started at normal time, at 8am. But when you are in Nuuk, as Elisabeth was for a while, it meant that the day started at 4am. And while other students could get the necessary resources for school, Elisabeth herself had to shop and obtain the necessary resources. That was something Elisabeth was happy to do because she knew it was important to her. Back home in Greenland she has been an intern at Hotel Arctic in Ilulissat, and later Restaurant Unicorn & Qooqqut Nuan in Nuuk.
During her stay in Denmark, she has in her spare time been employed at Alimentum, a restaurant in Aalborg that is recognized for its high standards. A job she had while also attending school. Elisabeth explains that there are some who do not complete the education and drop out because of its difficulty. That the culture within the restaurant kitchens can seem intimidating, and that you must be prepared for “tough love” as Elisabeth puts it. At the same time, she admits that she understands very well why the restaurants have to “test” people. Elisabeth has met several students from Greenland, who unfortunately dropped out due to the tone in the kitchen.
Elisabeth is ecstatic to have now completed her apprenticeship exam with great compliments, and she has already received a number of job offers, which she now has to decide on. Elisabeth will graduate on May 31, 2021.
Her film, which received a very nice 3rd prize, can be found via the following link.
A big congratulations to Elisabeth – you are a good role model for so many students in both Greenland and Denmark!
If you are interested in knowing more about the PIU program in Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, you can contact international coordinator Kaj Thybo from TECHCOLLEGE at:
E-mail: ktj@techcollege.dk or phone: +4525266227
