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PARKERSBURG -- A Wirt County High School graduate hopes to study abroad this summer through the culinary program at Hocking Technical College.
Devin Fetty, son of Mark and Candy Fetty of Elizabeth, plans to study Italian cuisine for two weeks in June at two schools in Italy.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Fetty, a 2017 graduate of Wirt County High School who anticipates graduating in the culinary arts program from Hocking Technical in the fall of 2020.
Fetty also has created a GoFund Me account to raise money for the trip abroad at https://www.gofundme.com/ffssza-help-me-study-abroad. He hopes to raise $10,000 for the trip to cover air fare, lodgings, meals and the tuition for the culinary classes in Italy.
The interest in cooking started as a child while recuperating from several operations to remove a benign tumor on the temporal lobe of his brain, Fetty said. He underwent four operations since the age of 12, each time staying at home to recuperate.
Cooking was something to pass the time away, said Fetty, who is now 20.
"I've wanted to be a chef ever since," Fetty said.
Fetty would be studying in the Emilia-Romagna Region and the Piedmont Region in Northern Italy. Fetty doesn't necessarily plan to specialize in Italian cuisine, but said he does prefer to cook comfort foods.
"I don't really have a favorite dish. I like all foods equally," he said. "I'd just like to cook.''
What's important with the trip to Italy is the experience and the chance to learn about different foods people eat in different places, Fetty said. He also hopes to some day travel around the country learning about the cuisines of different regions of the United States.
"I'd like to become an American master chef," said Fetty, who often cooks at home.