by Kate Aleksandrova, March 22, 2017

Writing this blog post I have realized it is my last on-campus quarter here at Kendall. This spring I will begin my internship therefore leaving the campus for good. I definitely can relate now to the bittersweet feeling of saying goodbye but at the same time greeting the adulthood as new experiences are waiting.

To be honest I cannot be happier with how my Kendall experience has ended. As some of you might now there is a project here at Kendall which is undeniably the most valuable part of the whole Kendall experience. It is called Capstone and it includes the full development project of the hospitality operation done solely by senior students in teams. Considering course length (22 weeks) and intensity (covering every aspect) it is understandable why it is so valuable to every student completing their program.

I had a pleasure to design a restaurant concept from scratch with 4 other talented students. I am proud and beyond happy to say that the restaurant we had developed won both awards for best concept and best presentation.

As a team leader (CEO) I feel nothing but pride for my team’s and my efforts. It wasn’t easy but turned out to be so rewarding and taught us all a lot. Among everything I can definitely say that this project showed us how important the teamwork is. Not only distributing the workload easily, but also having each other’s back. We turned out to be so supportive that by the end of the project we started to read each other’s’ minds and even finishing one’s sentences J

I learned that it is important to see your team as your own family – you struggle through bad moments together and you celebrate as a whole when succeed. There cannot be any internal competition. Every move has to be unified.

I am so happy to be a part of the Capstone project. Even though it was so intimidating this whole time for me, I am so glad I was able to complete it. And of course I wouldn’t be able to do it without the support of Kendall College Trust!

I wish you all the warmest and most exciting spring holidays!