Cooking not just a daily chore for A+ ECC graduate

Almost every student has fallen asleep during a boring lecture.

That's precisely Nora Sulaiman's fear.

To combat this, the 22-year old Elgin Community College culinary arts student, who will graduate today with two degrees and a 4.0 grade point average, has decided to turn her commencement speech into the most exciting format she knows: a menu.

Addressing the college's 425 graduates, Sulaiman will relate college and life experiences to appetizers and main courses, soups and sauces, aromas and flavors.

Like a menu, Sulaiman's life over the past six years has changed course but kept good food at the focal point.

Born in Malaysia, Sulaiman moved to Arlington Heights at 15.

"I had to leave everything I knew," she said. "I was angry at everything."

A Prospect High School student, Sulaiman cut class and neglected homework until a teacher suggested she join a culinary competition to make friends.

"I'd been cooking since I was 3 but never realized I could make a career out of it," she said. "From that point, my whole life turned around."

During high school, Sulaiman enrolled in culinary and restaurant management courses at Harper College in Palatine.

After graduation, she enrolled in ECC, working toward associate degrees in culinary arts and several vocational certificates.

This past summer, Sulaiman traveled back to Malaysia to work at the Equatorial Hotel's 5-star Chalet Restaurant, completing 800 hours in just 80 days.

To time her graduation with the retirement of her mentor, ECC's culinary arts program director Michael Zema, Sulaiman loaded up on courses this semester, taking a whopping 24 credit hours at once.

"It's all for Professor Zema," she said. "He's just done so much for me."

After graduation, Sulaiman will head to downtown Chicago's Heaven on Seven restaurant to work with nationally known chef Jimmy Bannos.

"It's been really hard to keep up the pace at times, but once you find something you love it becomes easier," she said.