Nicole Malloy takes the cake
Until recently, Nicole Malloy couldn’t decide what she wanted to do after she graduated – become a doctor or a pastry chef.
Her favorite classes in school were biology and anatomy, making medical school a natural assumption. But she also loves to bake and work at her parent’s pizza parlor, so working in the food industry sounded like a good bet, too.
Malloy’s mind was made up when she went to a college fair at the Spokane Convention Center, where more than 100 colleges set up to tell seniors what they had to offer.
“I was looking for classes on pre-med and biology majors,” Malloy said. Then she saw the table for the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute in Coos Bay. “I talked to the instructor for the pastry program. They have it set up like you’re running your own business, and it’s a really quick program.”
Much quicker than pre-med. It’s a 15-month course with the first 12 months devoted to class time and learning the craft of pastry making. The final three months is on-the-job training anywhere in the country. Malloy will start school this fall and eventually plans to open her own bakery and pastry shop.
She participated in volleyball and track for three years. Malloy likes to read humorous romance novels, go camping with her family, and ride dirt bikes and four-wheelers. She’s been in the National Honor Society for three years.
“We do a lot of volunteering and Habitat for Humanity stuff,” Malloy said. “We also work at the elementary school and watch the kids at the PTO meetings, and that’s a lot of fun because we get to play with the kids.”
Malloy’s parents are Jeff and Randi Malloy, and she is the oldest of five kids, with three brothers and one sister. The family also has a foreign exchange student from Germany staying with them this year. Her parents own Fourth and Main Pizza in Spirit Lake, where she has worked since it opened four years ago.
“I started at the counter and now I cook on weekends. I love it. It’s so much fun it doesn’t even seem like work,” she said. “And I get paid to do it, so I’m happy with that.”