Editor's Note: Legally, details about "Hell's Kitchen" could not be discussed until this season's airing is complete. Patch will have a follow up story about Nilka Hendricks success on the show next month. 

Author Dale Carnegie once said, "The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare."

This quote speaks volumes to the character of Nilka Hendricks, a former Glen Cove resident, who after years of hardships, persistence and taking risks, recently competed on Fox's reality-TV cooking show "Hell's Kitchen."

Hendricks, 28, was one of 16 chefs selected in the fall to face off on the show's seventh season, which aired on June 1 and is hosted by celebrity chef and restauranteur Gordon Ramsay. The culinary artists battled to become the head chef at Ramsay's new restaurant at the Savoy Hotel in London.

According to Fox, Hendricks is currently one of 13 culinary contestants remaining on the show, which was taped earlier this year. The next episode is scheduled to air Tuesday at 8:15 p.m. 

Journey to Becoming a Chef

Hendricks was born in 1980 in Monterey, Calif., and she moved with her mother, two brothers and sister to Glen Cove in 1987, where she lived until 2000.  

The community events and actions taken by former residents who returned to the city to help others are a few of her favorite memories about living in the Heart of the Gold Coast. 

"Different fairs used to come out to Glen Cove and people use to give us toys," Hendricks recalled. "I just remember people always coming back to the community and giving back, helping us out. I didn't have my father and my mother was working, so I always looked forward to things like that."  

Her fondest memories of the city, however, involve time spent with a woman she referred to as "Grams," someone who acted as a surrogate grandmother to the children of the community and even introduced Hendricks to cooking. 

"She always looked out for everybody and she used to have a cooking class to show us how to make little things," Hendricks said. "I remember making pizza with her and she taught us how to be ladies. She did a lot for us." 

Although Hendricks is now widely-known as a chef, her first dream was to become a nurse. Her grandmother's passing due to breast cancer influenced her medical field aspirations and she enrolled in school to pursue them. 

"Ever since my grandmother passed away from breast cancer, I just wanted to help people and save people, make someone's journey that much easier," Hendricks said. "Cooking was never a thought to me, it was just a passion." 

While attending school to become a nurse, Hendricks' mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. During this time, she stopped going to school to become a nurse and she later enrolled in the Culinary Academy of Long Island in Syosset, where she worked for W.S. & B. Caterers, her first job in the cooking field. 

"I was a head cook there," Hendricks said. "I was doing the shopping, the cooking, everything. That job opened my eyes up to catering and this industry." 

Hendricks left the catering company to pursue an opportunity with more freedom and responsibility at the Earth Tonez Café in Brooklyn. 

"That was the first time I stepped out on my own and did Nilka's style of food, and that was the first time I ever did vegan and vegetarian food," she explained about her experience at the café. "I didn't know what I was doing but I said, 'I'm going to go cook this food like I know how to cook.' Everybody adapted to the food and they really enjoyed the food." 

With an interest in fine dining, she left Earth Tonez Café and ended up in East Hampton to work at the Kobe Beach Club. The head chef hired her the same day she interviewed for a cooking position.   

This job opened up the door for Hendricks to work at China Grill Management in New York City, the same company that operated the club. She was later hired to work at The Empire Hotel Rooftop Bar & Lounge in Manhattan, a haven for upscale catered events and celebrities. This marked her last job change before being casted for "Hell's Kitchen" this year.

Stepping into Ramsay's Kitchen 

Hendricks auditioned for the fourth season of "Hell's Kitchen" in 2007, but due to factors out of her control, was not able to be casted at the time. After sending an email to the program's casting agents three years later, she received a phone call to complete her personality interview and was eventually selected for the show.     

With the season completed prior to being aired, Hendricks said she has recognized the difficulty of trying to transition from where she came from to where she is now.     

"I learned that nothing is impossible, whatever I dream shall come to pass," she said about her experience on the show.

Watch "Hell's Kitchen" every Tuesday night on Fox.