Charles Trovato, 18, of Albrightsville, started classes in culinary arts as a freshman at Carbon Career and Technical Institute.

Did he anticipate becoming a chef?"Yes I did. Big time. I always had an interest in cooking," he said.It was the chemistry of cooking that led Charles to put culinary arts on the back burner and instead pursue a career in molecular biology."As I advanced in culinary, I got more of a chemistry aspect; I became interested in science," he said.Charles, who is valedictorian of the Class of 2014, has been accepted at DeSales University.Charles recently worked for a year as a garde chef at a restaurant, where he began to understand the demands placed on chefs."As I was working as a chef there, it was very stressful. I realized the head chef worked six days a week.He had only one day a week to spend with his family, and he was at the restaurant from noon to midnight. It was just something I did not want to do," he said."I wanted to be a chef. Now I want to be a scientist," he said. "It's a big jump."Charles won President Barack Obama's Education Award; the Leadership Carbon award for the Jim Thorpe Area School District; the Most Outstanding senior in Culinary Arts award.He is a member of the National Vocational-Technical Honor Society and Distributive Education Clubs of America.Charles also placed in the advanced level in culinary arts in the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute exams.