by Omar Rivera, March 24, 2017

Spring is right around the corner which means new beginning and new opportunities. This quarter has been a great exposure for me. I’ve successfully completed my internship held on fall of last year. It was an experience that really opens my eyes. As much as I enjoyed the learning experience I was just ready to be out of there. It was a union position that required of me to work overnights. It did put burden to my health but hey at least I got the necessary experience needed to start my successful path to what I want to become. Many decisions had to be made whether to have continued at the property that I did my internship or move on. I decided to part ways with them at the very end of 2016.

This winter quarter really made me think if I still wanted to continue pursuing the degree when I first started Kendall. Being a full time employee makes it really hard for me to take some courses on campus but knowing that online classes were offered when I applied that gave me a piece of mind.

Coming from a tiny small country such as Belize I was ecstatic to know that they offered a hospitality course on Sustainability. At the end of this quarter I have decided to part away from sustainability and instead further my degree career in Hotel Management and Lodging. I landed a job offer at Residence Inn Chicago. The position really opened up my eyes and being the ambitious person that I am I knew that having a background on Hotel Management will really help me to climb to be a Manager. I will still be an advocate when it comes to sustainable tourism but at this moment I couldn’t continue the path of sustainability as none of the courses were being offered online. As I write this I’m at work assisting with the night audit and I can say I don’t have any regrets on doing. I’m going to be enrolling in a leadership program that Marriott International offers.  I’m looking forward for this opportunity as both my Manager and HR manager have seen the leader in me.  As I say farewell to winter I welcome and embrace all the opportunities being given me.  I’m happy that Kendall is preparing me to embrace and take over the world.