CENTRAL

christinaChristina MachamerThe Culinary Institute of AmericaHell's Kitchen winner Christina Machamer started out asa student at a traditional university: a double major inPolitical Science and Criminology. “I totally realized thatbeing a lawyer was not going to be fun,” Christina said. “Ihad always worked in restaurants, and the chef I workedfor was like, ‘Why don’t you go to culinary school?’”“I was working for a chef who was brilliant and he went toThe Culinary Institute of America. So I figured if I go toCIA, I will be brilliant,” said Christina.Then, she made the gut decision that would change herlife. “During summer break, I fell down the stairs andsprained my ankle, and I had to rearrange my scheduleat The Culinary Institute of America,” Christina said.“Auditions (for Hell’s Kitchen) were on a Monday, andsince I didn’t have class, I thought, ‘Why not?’”Now not only has Christina become a media darling, she’salso an inspiration to culinary students everywhere. “Beingon television has its ups and downs,” Christina said. “Butto be an inspiration to people, it really is one of the bestprivileges of this whole experience.”“We were very excited to learn that another one of ouralumni had earned a spot on Hell’s Kitchen,” said StephanG. Hengst, Marketing Director at CIA. “Our alumnihave done very well on a variety of shows ranging fromIron Chef on Food Network to Top Chef on Bravo." ◄