I decided to study hotel management because my father encouraged me to follow my childhood dream, which began at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. I was entranced by the Marriot’s bar, its elevator, its clients and the hotel itself. At a young age, I was convinced that I wanted to work in a hotel someday. My father told me that my passion for hospitality and people were worth pursuing professionally. His encouragement and that grand hotel on 42nd Street ultimately led me to where I am now.
I chose to study at Buffalo State College because I wanted to have the fast-paced experience of New York City. I was also looking for a school with a great campus and a strong hospitality program in a city with an excellent public transportation system. Buffalo State College met all of those criteria.
My admissions process was short and simple. I submitted my application and heard back from Buffalo State within a month. The application itself was standard and the only extra material I submitted was a personal essay that discussed my reasons for choosing the college and its hospitality program.
My particular hotel management program takes 4 years to complete. Hotel managers see to client satisfaction by organizing and overseeing every aspect of the customer’s lodging experience. The sincere desire to serve and accommodate people is the motivation behind hotel management. Therefore, my curriculum provides both theoretical and practical training in hospitality.
The biggest strength of my program is the scope of its curriculum. Students get to experience a little bit of everything. I feel confident that this broad education in a variety of subjects allows hospitality graduates to find work in multiple fields. I love knowing that if I want to cater instead of going into hotel hospitality after I graduate, I have the skills and education to do so. On the other hand, a weakness of my program is that it does not do enough field trips. I think going to hotels or dining establishments to witness their service in action would benefit students.
In my opinion, the most valuable parts of my program are the practicum and the electives I have chosen. The practicum allows me to work at the front desk and behind the scenes in a hotel so that I can apply the principles of my coursework. I would also recommend that hospitality management students take courses in Spanish and public speaking. Spanish is becoming a critical requirement for hospitality positions since it is so commonly spoken. And since hospitality professionals spend their entire day communicating with other people, those who can speak with confidence will have a better chance of success in this industry.
Finally, I cannot assess my program without acknowledging the excellence of the faculty at Buffalo State College. Every professor has practical experience and a great deal of knowledge about their subject areas. They work hard to communicate clearly and are eager to build relationships with their students.
Buffalo State College provides a library and an on-site hotel for us to practice our skills. The library provides critical resources for theoretical portions of the hospitality curriculum, while the college hotel provides practical experience for hospitality students.
I participated in an internship for a hotel that eventually led me to get a job there. When I was looking for an internship, I drafted and sent out several professional emails asking for intern opportunities. Within a week, a hotel manager contacted me. Although the internship was unpaid, I acquired valuable experience on the job. It cemented my passion for the field and helped me assess my professional strengths and weaknesses.
I recommend that hotel management students make the most of their class materials. They should start by reading the assigned material completely and highlighting the important elements. Professors tend to pull exam questions from the reading, so knowing that material and highlighting its key components is the surest way for students to prepare. Students should also compare their lecture notes against the reading material. This process reinforces the knowledge element of the hospitality degree and leads to a more thorough, developed understanding of the concepts.
I have lived on campus in the dorms since my freshman year, which is a common experience for most students at Buffalo State. Living on campus has given me the opportunity to interact with others pursuing different disciplines from my own. I also love the convenience of living on campus since I do not have to worry about commuting, finding parking or going out to eat.
However, I do worry that living on campus has separated me from the surrounding community. I have lived in Buffalo for 4 years now but know only a few streets and very little about Buffalo itself. For that reason, I advise students to get involved in their city and campus communities as much as possible. Volunteer projects for the city look excellent on resumes and offer valuable opportunities to learn about people and different perspectives. Campus connections are valuable, too. Campus staff, professors and other students can open doors to jobs and opportunities down the road.
Hospitality management homework involves a great deal of reading. My professors emphasize the keywords of texts and encourage me to use them in my papers. These keywords will not only help me remember the text itself, but also the concepts that the text communicates. I only spend 5 to 6 hours a week in class, but I study for several hours on top of that.
The most common careers within this field are working with hotels, restaurants and cruise lines, and I plan to work with a high-end restaurant or hotel in New York City. I would love to become a hotel manager or an executive supervisor. Eventually, I want to own my own catering or event planning business. I want to take my degree as far as I can in the industry, even if it takes me awhile to get there.
Hotel management is a lot of work, but salaries within hospitality can be very competitive. Hospitality providers need to pay their staff well not only because the turnover is high in this industry, but because they need to attract the best talent to their establishments.
I would advise students to seek out the diverse opportunities that the hospitality industry offers. You don’t have to restrict yourself to working in a hotel. Hospitality workers can find jobs at amusement parks, in night clubs, on cruise lines and anywhere else that serves customers. To find these desirable jobs, I recommend that students develop relationships with as many people as they can. Personal connections can open doors to unexpected opportunities.
Even though it can be a rewarding career, I wish someone had told me about the difficulty of the work and the long hours it requires. Getting anywhere in hospitality requires hard labor and determination, which I failed to realize before pursuing this career. In addition, the best jobs in hospitality come with exhausting hours. Even when hotel managers are not on duty, they are always on call.
