Randy Wong ’04

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Randy Wong ’04 was an engineering undergrad living in the bustling neighborhood of Westwood. Now he is the head chef at Campus by the Sea, a private campground accessible only by boat, located on Catalina Island. What changed?

1. What made you decide to change career directions from engineering to the culinary arts?

I had chosen engineering for the money. I wanted a six-figure income so I could afford all the cars and video games I thought would make me happy. After working for three summers at an engineering company, I realized the hard way that money and materialism will never truly fulfill my life, so I began searching for a career that would provide me with a deeper satisfaction and joy.

During my sophomore year, I lived in Hedrick Hall, 5 South, across from a study lounge that had a kitchen. My friends and I used to cook dinners there when we were sick of dorm food, and I valued the warm fellowship and friendships we had experienced through those nights. That's when I really began looking into the deeper meaning of sharing a meal with others and fell in love with the emotions and experiences good food can create. Food can be a universal expression of love, regardless of what language or cultural barriers may exist. By senior year, I was cooking at various events for an organization I was involved in, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and began pursuing the culinary arts as a career.

However, my engineering experience has proven useful. When problems arise in the kitchen, my mind instantly analyzes situations as I would analyze an engineering problem. This helps me to remain calm and function as a strong leader when things get chaotic. My background in the sciences also helps me to make decisions on food safety and sanitation practices.

2. Why did you choose to take the chef position at Campus by the Sea rather than receive training through a professional culinary arts institution?

I love cooking because of the fellowship and unity it brings. The head cook position at Campus by the Sea allows me to work with a wide variety of people both in and outside of the kitchen. I get to serve as a positive influence and a source of encouragement to the kitchen and camp staff and camp attendees. It's really not about the food; the focus is on understanding the value of life and I can't learn how to love people just by reading more books or getting more diplomas. My love of cooking is just an added bonus to an already great job. Plus, I was already paying for my student loans so I would be unable to afford the high costs of culinary school.

3. How do you feel your position at the camp fulfills your spiritual calling?

Being the head cook puts me in a unique position as a leader for the kitchen staff. We work closely together each day, which allows me to continue growing as a mentor, counselor and leader for them. Instead of being the boss who oversees everything, I am a friend first and a leader second. My coworkers feel comfortable to confide in me and I do the same with them.

Formal education can be an important resource but a person doesn’t actually learn anything until he or she begins living in the real world and applying what was taught in school. I'm gaining a lot of experience with people with very different personalities from very different backgrounds. Loving them every single day is strengthening my ability to be a positive influence who pushes them to strive for more than just a daily 9-5 job. Whether I'm a pastor or head cook, my calling is to serve others and from my experience, I don't need a seminary school diploma to serve or to be a good friend.

4. How did people react to finding out that you were going to take this career path as opposed to an engineering job?

Most people my age are pretty positive and supportive. I've been told that my story has encouraged a lot of them to re-evaluate their own priorities in life: to strive for the joy received from loving others rather than the temporary satisfaction received from material wealth. However, some people express a form of detached encouragement. "That's great for you but there's no way I'd do something like that." In one way they support me, but on the other hand, they alienate me because they would never consider this path good enough for their own lives.

5. Tell us about your daily routine at Campus by the Sea.

I live at camp year-round and my routines vary depending on the season. Summer is one crazy, noisy and quick season with the most demanding hours and work. The rest of the year is slower and restful. I am usually in the kitchen by 5:30 or 6 a.m. and my staff report in by 7 a.m. We cook breakfast and do some lunch preparation and then break for our own breakfast around 9:30 a.m. We get right back to making lunch and are usually able to afford an afternoon break from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. During these afternoon breaks, I usually swim in the cove, hike or rest. I occasionally sneak into a volleyball game and my staff loves to sunbathe on the beach. By 4:30 p.m., we're all back in the kitchen to prepare dinner and we sit down for our own meal around 7 p.m. We believe in serving our guests and staff before serving ourselves.

We get two days off per week and these days often vary from week to week. On my days off, I work in a garden that we tend near our staff housing, where I grow fresh herbs, flowers and fruit trees. Occasionally, I travel into Avalon, the major tourist town on Catalina Island. I also write letters to friends back in the city and spend a lot of time praying and reading.

6. You live on an island secluded from city life. What were the easiest and most difficult parts of adjusting? What do you love most about living away from a large city?

The most difficult adjustment is the limited accessibility of things I had taken for granted in the city. The camp is located in a private cove on Catalina Island and is only accessible by boat. Except for summer, there are far fewer people around, while in the city there were always people to see and visit. I also miss just being able to hang out in coffee shops and being around Asian food culture. There is no Boba on the island. Friends occasionally send me boxes of instant noodles in the mail, which I treasure but scarf down within days. I think what I miss the most are my friends and family. Noodles are nice but you can't replace the love of a family.

It’s been easy to adjust to the beauty of the Campus by the Sea campgrounds. At night, I can see more stars than I've ever seen in the city and shooting stars can be seen nearly every night. Being away from the city has helped me live life at a slower pace and fall in love with the beautiful world in which we've been placed. I may not have easy access to Pad Thai anymore, but that's a small sacrifice for the peaceful joy I have at camp.

I have also learned how to drive the big, cool machines at camp that I used to play with as small toys when I was a little kid. I doubt many cooks can claim to know how to drive a tractor or fork-lift.

7. Are your long term plans to stay on the island?

Yes, I plan on staying at camp for the next three or four years. I am committed to helping the camp director's vision for building a stronger Christian ministry for the camp staff. Afterwards, I plan on volunteering my knowledge as a cook to mission agencies and other organizations that need my help. I would love to serve and work on another island, like Indonesia.

8. What have you learned about yourself and life in general through this experience?

I find it hard to believe that we were given all the luxuries and privileges that America has to offer, such as a quality college education, only so that we can keep it for our own glory and bank accounts. I firmly believe that we have these resources so that we can help others in the world who aren’t as fortunate. Pursuing engineering for my own gain has taught me that doing anything for self-interest is guaranteed to fail in my aspirations for fulfillment and contentment. I read somewhere that it does no good to gain the world if I lose my soul in the process.

I'm earning a small fraction of the salary I could be earning had I stayed with engineering and continued to pursue material wealth. I don't have a shiny new car nor my own apartment or house, yet I am finding more joy and love in helping others than I've ever experienced throughout my life. I don't miss much from life in the city because the joy I receive from working at camp outshines any hunger for material objects I have experienced.

9. Tell us a story that reaffirmed your decision to move out to the island.

During the summer we run a series of seven, one-week-long, family camp sessions. Every family that attends these camp sessions arrives with their own emotional baggage and they spend that week healing and recovering in ways that would not be possible in the city because of their busy schedules and daily responsibilities. The last night of each session is a banquet night, during which the staff dresses up and we serve an extra-special dinner. Near the end of the night, the campers speak about their experience on the island. There was one week in which a young teenage girl with a mental disorder had been seen joyfully running around and playing at camp. During that session’s banquet night, her parents shared that this week was the first time that they had seen their daughter smile and laugh in several months.

It was that night when I realized it is my privilege to work at camp. Camp has helped keep countless numbers of families strong and has even saved and created marriages. Time at camp allows these families to finally work out problems that had plagued them the entire year. It is an honor to contribute to the healing of the hundreds of families who hold camp as a very important part of their lives. Jobs come and go, cars break down, stocks fluctuate and clothes get old quickly, but healthy families last. No six-figure salary can even come close to the satisfaction and sheer joy I receive when I help families grow stronger together. I'm investing in something that has more meaning than anything this physical world has to offer because I'm investing in a higher calling.