Monday, June 28, 2010

First Day of Class


Today was my first day as a hotelie! I also bought a new laptop to replace the damaged one in my dorm, so I am almost all set.

All the ILCers met up in the morning and headed off to Appel Commons for breakfast at about 7:25, shortly after the hotel students started our trek to the first day of class. We arrived a bit early and found our seats. Slowly but steadily the class began to fill up until there were 80 students there ready to learn about the world’s most dynamic industry. Following the course outline presentation, Group A went to the computer lab while Group B stayed in the class to do introductions. At the computer lab, we were instructed to take a personality quiz and then create a memo to our professors outlining why you chose this program, something interesting about yourself, your personality quiz results, and where or not you agree with the results. I ended up being a stabilizer-analyzer. The memo was a bit more confusing, as I had never written one before, but I relaxed when the TA’s said that this little exercise will not go on our grade and instead is practice to help our professors know how much all the students know.

After our computer program, Group A headed back to the classroom where we participated in a student introduction. Basically, we paired off with someone we didn’t know and had to introduce them to the class after a 5 minute conversation. Many of the students really impressed me. It seems as though everyone either had or has a parent or sibling that attended Cornell or their parents own hotels or travel agencies. It was incredibly intimidating.

The lecture was very interesting. We learned about the major players of the hotel industry which includes Starwood, Marriot, Hilton, etc. We went over the service level classifications from luxury to budget. Overall it was a great way to kick of the class.

Today, they also assigned us our groups that they formulated from the personality quiz we took earlier. My group consists of Arian, Max, Adrienne and I. I found my group to be easy going and very bright. It is also a perfect blend of two girls and 2 guys all from different geographical backgrounds. Already Mark and Reneta have announced that our first group presentation is on Monday. Each group has been assigned a hotel company and we are going to give an 8 minute presentation to inform the class about the company. My group has been assigned to Choice Hotels International.

Overall, class got off to a great start. I am definitely looking forward to class tomorrow.

1 comment:

  1. I talked to Ms. Kaplan and she told me about your laptop. I'm so glad you were able to get a new one so fast.

    The class sounds very interesting and informative. I too am surprised that many of your fellow classmates already have a connection to the program, but that's logical.

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