Eron Woods is helping other students pay for college — and he isn’t even finished with his own education.

The 19-year-old recently gave $500 to help a culinary student at his alma mater, the Bermuda College.

Mr Woods graduated from the culinary arts programme last year. He’s continuing his studies at Johnson & Wales University in North Carolina.

“I wanted to thank the Bermuda College for making all their resources open to me,” he said. “I thought it was the least I could do. They opened so many doors for me and showed me so many possibilities.”

Friends and family gave him cash for his birthday to help make the scholarship a reality.

“It wasn’t difficult for me,” he said. “I collected the birthday donations and added them to a scholarship fund that I started. For me, $500 was a generous amount, and it was a realistic goal that I could personally reach.”

He is hoping to offer the scholarship annually, depending on his financial circumstances.

“I think it is just another positive thing to add to what the Bermuda College has to offer,” he said. “I’m not sure if anyone is struggling to pay tuition, but I know that additional help is always wanted.”

This year’s scholarship was awarded to Alexis Trott, for culinary consistency.

Mr Woods attended Warwick Academy but quit before entering the private school’s two-year international baccalaureate programme.

“I always knew I wanted to do something within the culinary industry and that would have inhibited what I wanted to do,” he said. “It would have slowed me down, and would have been more money out of my parents’ pockets.”

He got a General Educational Development diploma from the Adult Education School before entering the Bermuda College culinary arts programme.

He said this path was a win-win for him. He was chosen for an internship at celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson’s pop-up restaurant at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess and also won several scholarships. He graduated with an associate degree in applied science culinary arts, and was able to enter college as a sophomore. He is majoring in pastry and food service entrepreneurship. Mr Woods has loved cooking since he was a child.

“It was something I enjoyed doing with my family,” he said. “It was fun being in the kitchen and being with my parents. I like the way food makes people happy and fuels good conversations.”

He’s loving Johnson & Wales so far.

“It is the ideal programme for me,” he said. “The chefs are very established within the industry. Some of them are world known. We have master chefs who have done competitions and come first place. Our chefs are teaching out of books they have written themselves.”

He hopes to go on to get a master’s degree in business administration.

“After that, I want to do some travelling while working and get some experience,” he said. “I really want to come back home and open an artisan chocolate shop.”

He is looking for internships in the field.

“I am keeping it open, though, to what I specifically want to do with regards to the chocolate,” he said. “It is a very big industry within itself. It is a whole other learning scenario.”