SBCC Promise alumna Ava Engle started at SBCC while she was still a high school student at Carpinteria High School. Through a special grant from the SBCC Foundation, she was able to take classes at the college in her senior year, then started full-time as an SBCC Promise student to pursue an associate degree in culinary arts. She is passionate about learning, and loved the culinary program at SBCC.
“The SBCC Promise covered the cost of my chef jacket, knives, and the books that I needed, in addition to tuition and fees, which all really adds up,” Ava said. While attending college, Ava worked at the Carpinteria-based Food Liaison, which offers catering services, cooking classes, and a lunch counter.
After graduating from SBCC in 2021, Ava and fellow SBCC student Marcelo Chacon had the opportunity to work abroad as interns for three months at the Regent Hotel in Porto Montenegro, in the city of Kotor (a Santa Barbara sister city). They got to experience a new culture and various languages while working in a professional kitchen. Ava enjoyed traveling with her new friends during their free time, and her internship was featured in an article in the Montecito Journal.
“It was an amazing experience,” Ava said. “I learned so much, and am still in touch with the friends I made. I definitely plan to go back again at some point.”
After returning to Santa Barbara, Ava served for over a year as a pastry cook at the popular Helena Avenue Bakery in the Funk Zone. She then moved to Aspen, Colorado to work seasonally for a year at The Dancing Bear Aspen, as a club attendant and with a chef at an upscale residence club.
In 2024, she moved to Austin, TX and started a new culinary position as a cook at Oracle’s world headquarters. She is on the grill station right now and feeling the HEAT, but is enjoying working with her colleagues. Ava is thrilled to be able to add her own ideas to the menus. “It is pretty rare to be able to contribute to the menu at the cook level in the culinary world,” Ava said. “We do not have set menus. They change every week, and anyone at work can suggest culinary ideas.”
Ava says, “I am excited to be working in the culinary world, and thankful for the education I received at SBCC.”
