This might seem like a weird place to vent a bit, but I'm going to give it a go.  I feel stuck.  I'm a 26 year old man who feels as though any opportunity has passed him by.  I've been working steady as a painter for the last 5 years, all the while growing more and more passionate about baking.  i bake as much as my schedule, and my budget, allows me to - and I love it.  My question is what do I do?  I went to almost every bakery in my hometown (Omaha,NE) and one of the managers (Wheatfields) actually said that I was too old to teach, the others either weren't interested or weren't hiring.  I never felt more worthless in my life.  Even though I knew the man at Wheatfields was wrong, it left me feeling very despondent, and extremely skeptical as to whether or not a career in baking was really for me.  Maybe the cards were just dealt differently.  

What's your advice?  For those of you that are bakers out there, or who own bakeries, what are you looking for?  Is a four-year degree what makes or breaks it?  Is it passion?  Is it trainability? Perception? Personality? I feel as though I'm trying as hard as I possibly can to really make a go at learning more and more about the art of bread, but I'm doing it alone.  A no one will take a chance on me.  

Again, this really does sound like a confessional, I apologize.  I figure who better to ask than people who are as passionate about bread as I!  Really, any advice at all would be appreciated.  The main question, really, is would spending $20,000 on an education just to have a degree in baking be worth it?  

 Thanks everyone

 Localfruitandveg 

I was wondering what the best way is to go about finding a job at a bread bakery?  Not some donut shack, but a truly down-to-earth bakery that makes everything from scratch.  I've been wanting to get into making breads at a bakery for so long, as I'm a baker at home and have a great amount of passion for it.  I could see myself falling more and more in love with the process.  I've looked all around Nebraska, where I'm from and currently live, but nothing is to be found - at least nothing that's looking for any help.  Any ideas as to where to go for a job?  Really anywhere in the country would be great!  Looking to move in a year or so, so if any of you are owners of bakeries or know of a network of people I could talk to, I would greatly appreciate it.  Also, just general advice would be helpful for me.  For all of you out there who do this for a living, and really love to create beautiful rich breads that make peoples day; I would love to hear your thoughts and advice for someone like me wanting to, in so many words, join the international family of bread bakers.

Thanks so much everyone

Andrew