Raymond Costain, 26, juggles school and his personal life while raising two children.

Many talented and inspirational people have walked the halls of Humber, and Raymond Costain, a full-time student in the culinary program, is one of them.
The 26-year-old single father of two is holding down two jobs.
A typical day for the chef-in-training starts at 5:30 a.m.
“I get my kids up and get them ready for school,” he said. “Then I drop them off at the babysitter’s because I have to be at school for 7:00 a.m.”
He is usually at school from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., then it’s off to work either at the Humber Room or Nota Bene, a restaurant downtown.  
“Then I pick them up from the babysitter’s, take them home, clean them up, read a book and get them to bed,” said Costain.
After his kids are asleep is the only time Costain has to himself.  He said it’s hard sometimes, but in the end he knows it will all be worth it.
Breaking up with your significant other is always hard and Costain said it took him a while to get over it.
“It was really tough for the first three years,” said Costain.
“I didn’t want to do anything, I didn’t want to work, all I wanted to do was sleep.  I’d do stuff for the kids and sort of shadow my own feelings.”
He said he got his motivation to get his life on track from his children.  
When he noticed his daughter Shanice was having trouble in school,  he felt he couldn’t help, so he decided to start working again.
While he was out in the workforce, he met Paul Iskander, professor of the business development event management classes at Humber.  
Iskander gave Costain information about the culinary program and that’s pretty much all it took for Costain to enroll at Humber.
“I never actually thought I was going to come back to school,” said Costain. “When I came back I was 24. I thought I was too old to come to school.”
Costain is also an honour student who holds an 89 per cent average.  
“I am really proud of myself because along with everything else in my life, trying to stay on the honour roll is pretty tough,” he said.
He has also participated in several culinary competitions.
Costain and Gary Nguyen, 22, a fellow culinary student, competed at last year’s Culinary Salon.  
“It was very hard work, we actually got a bronze metal at the Salon which was pretty great for our first time,” said Nguyen.
The Culinary Salon is a cold competition which means scoring of the food is based on how the dish is cooked and presented instead of taste.  
Costain plans to compete in the competition again this year.
He said once he graduates,  he would like to come back to Humber and teach.  
“I actually spoke to Chef Fischbacher and he said if I continue to excel in the industry, I can possibly come back in five years and teach part-time,” said Costain.
He also wants to open up a restaurant, possibly a small family diner, and he wants to travel the world.
Both chefs and fellow students said they expect great things to come from Costain.
“Raymond is a fantastic student, he is very focused, always on time, keeps to himself, works very hard, and he is just a pleasure to have around the kitchen,” said chef Trevor Meynert, a culinary professor at Humber.