I started by "making" frozen dinners, instant noodles and meal kits.

The most complex stuff I'd make is stir frying with some stir fry sauce.

Starting somewhere around 3rd year in college I decided I wanted to get better at cooking so I would look up a recipe for something I liked to eat once a month and try to make it.

Once I graduated I realized I actually like cooking so I took the idea further and decided to make a new dish every week. I would research a dish, find a recipe that I thought looked good and then buy the ingredients the next time I'm at the grocery store. I practiced mise en place (ie. I would measure, wash and cut every ingredient before turning on the heat) and it really helped make every dish accessible.

I did this for 10 years. Turns out if you consistently cook at least once a week for 10 years you make mistakes, learn and get better.

I'm not as good as a chef and my knife skills suck but I like to think I can cook food as good as most restaurants. I also got to explore a large range of dishes and discovered a lot of foods I love and how to make it.