Ex-General Motors factory worker pursues a new life as a chef

The College on a Dime series is written by Zac Bissonnette, a junior at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His book

College On a Dime will be published by Penguin in the fall.

Ryan Hawkinberry, 34, has wanted to be a chef since he was ten years old. But like his father before him, he turned to a General Motors assembly plant for a steady income and benefits that allowed him to support his family, which includes five children between the ages of six and 19.

In 1999, after he had just graduated from high school, Hawkinberry started working at GM's Dayton, Ohio plant. He later transferred to another plant in Mansfield, Ohio. Despite the years he decided to spend at the plant, it soon became evident that Hawkinberry hated working there. One clue: he took as many sick days as he possibly could.