Monday marked the beginning of the end. It's a saddening realization, but in the classroom environment, strangely it doesn't feel like we're wrapping up at all. We're always embarking on new hospitality adventures and new lessons, always learning something new. There is no expiration. Oddly enough this relentlessness is a bit reassuring.
Today, we commenced fierce editing of our returned business report. Personally, I was not happy with the grade I earned, but am sure that the hard work I’m spending in revision will mean a sharper final product: the infamous culmination group CHESS analysis report.
This morning, the class touched on our weekend service projects. It was a discussion that grew into what it means and how it feels to have a service mindset, to possess the skill of engaging people and serving their needs to the best of one’s abilities. This deeper significance (which I had meticulously detailed in my previous entry deleted by Blogger on a glitch) revealed itself in the form of a pop quiz.
With the help of the Statler Hotel's Director of Food & Beverages, we diagrammed the entire corporate structure of the typical hotel.
We also hosted another guest speaker, Lisa Schaffer, an Assistant Dean at the Cornell Hotel School. She dished the details on the application process to this college in particular out of the many on Cornell University’s campus. Her information was very tailored and helpful for the individuals who expressed their deep interest in the hospitality industry by fiercely jotting down the Hotel School’s student median SAT & ACT scores, as well as SAT II Chemistry & Math requirements.
Yet simultaneously, I felt some of her advice would be applicable to anyone applying to any university. She talked about the interviewing process, whether it be with one of the members of a global network of alumni, in-school, or via Skype. Colleges really want to make sure they’re a good fit for you and vice versa, so laying it all on the table can be a deciding factor. Having work experience in the area of study certainly helps, and possessing that genuine passion, personality, and determination (which they can sense a mile away) to pursue it dramatically increases your chances.
One message that will stick with me is: if you know what you want to do, what field you want to pursue, what to study to get there, or all of the above, then go for it. But, keep in mind that you’ll make many new discoveries along the way, wherever you end up, so it’s important to have an open mind.
It’s busy days like these which keep my mind off the tragedy that all things come to an end.
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