I sympathize with your desire for more challenging paths to success, but had to counter the assertion that with no college degree and just lackluster high school grades, no one can become a top chef, and all they can amount to is something lowly in the culinary career. There are people who started out in kitchens, paid under the table, at 14, who reached the top of their field through talent, hard work, and making connections in the field due to a great work ethic. The attempts to professionalize everything to the point that opportunities for success must be bought through the established channels, in which a degree is considered superior to innate ability, work ethic, and talent, is an indication of how bloated and corrupt the higher education industry has become.