I would be victorious on that day and win the gold medal. While there was no further race to move onto, I have won a "Gold" that day, and it seemed to place a catapulting feeling on my heart. It was time to leave Burlington.

Samantha and I continued to talk each Wednesday and Saturday. It was past mid-semester and she was doing well in her classes. I had gained quite a bit of personal knowledge; mostly in my food science classes. I wondered how I would continue to learn, and I began looking for some options.

In the Hudson Valley of New York, I noticed a two-day wine school hosted by the Master Court of Sommeliers. This would serve as a foundation to continue my wine education. As an American Viticultural Area and restaurant Mecca, the Hudson Valley area was no stranger to food and wine.

The class was scheduled for October 24, and I had hoped to pass the introductory exam. I would be learning about the wine regions of the world, the AVA's, the kinds of varietals that are most commonly grown within and how to present and taste wine. I knew it would be an excellent resume-builder; as I was still beneath the "dark clouds" of what I wanted to do with my life.

Prior to going to the class, I drank many bottles in preparation. There were California Cabernets, Virginia Cabernet Francs,German Rieslings, Malborough Sauvignon Blancs, and even North Carolina Muscadets. I was going to be fully prepared to pass on the first go-around and share this new accomplishment with Samantha.

Additionally, I had been practicing pairing food with wine. This is really where the "rubber meets the road", if a career as a sommelier was ever going to be my path. I was; however, interested in making beer as much as wine; and Vermont craft breweries were popping up like dandelions in the early spring. To add to that, Samantha was close to the home of "craft brewing", as Samuel Adams operations were in Boston. The Boston Beer Corporation had spent the last thirty years making a slow, but exponential foray into the beer market, and was gaining share by the quarter and year against the behemoths like Molson-Coors and Inbev/Anheuser Busch. I wondered if there would be an internship in Boston, but I would further my education first and foremost.