I had time to get to class, so I made sure I arrived around 40 minutes before office hours, which was the top priority, from 9:00 PM to 12:00 PM. Veronica was already there working on the report, and after finishing the charts and graphs and appendices, we looked at my corrections, most of which made me happy I did decide to stay up and fix the report. If I learned one thing about the reports and assignments here in SHA (School of Hotel Administration) was that it’s VERY IMPORTANT THAT EVERYTHING LOOKS PROFESSIONAL AND NEAT. This includes making everything as clear and succinct as possible and making sure the grammar and punctuation are accurate.
Since the graduation ceremony is tomorrow at 10:00 AM, I will sure my secret from this week. It was on Wednesday, during one of our breaks, that Mark called me, Taylor, Brian, and Group 7B over to talk to him. I had no idea what I had done; I thought that this was in regards to my apology letter for dosing off in class last Friday. He told us that during the ceremony on Saturday that Reneta will begin speaking, and instead of speaking the entire time, she will hand over the stage to the students in the class. Mark asked us if we would be comfortable with speaking on behalf of the class during graduation. I was in disbelief. Why would Mark choose me to speak with 6 other people out of 80 students who all knew practically everything about the hotel industry and probably aced all their tests?
Nonetheless, I didn’t hesitate to agree, along with everyone else. Up until today, I was nervous about this because we planned on having a rundown of the presentation after class. As I said before, I had no time to finish my report, so I certainly didn’t practice. My TA, Margot, however, assured me that Mark understands we probably didn’t prepare and that he would help us.
Anyways, back to the report for a second. Those three hours were filled with stress, yelling, pressure, and anxiety. Not just my group, but everyone else as well. Throughout office hours, we were divided in four different labs, with all groups rushing back and forth from their rooms to the printers to check up on their reports. I have some great pictures and videos to show this. Toward the end, Reneta and Mark wanted all the groups, regardless if they were finished, to print out their reports and quickly go over it with them to make sure they were doing it correctly. Eventually, we handed in our reports, Reneta looked over it, and gave us that long-expected OK. We were so relieved, but I was still a little worried.
The 7 of us and Mark headed to the Alice Statler Auditorium, a really big auditorium with a huge stage and a projector. I think that’s the same place where we had our crash course in the beginning of the program. Taylor was the first student to speak. She had a little intro already written, which I really liked. Like me, she wasn’t completely ready, which was OK. She talked with Reneta afterward about her part. She then introduced Group 7B, who were actually the other Best Western group during Company Presentations, as I am part of Group 7A. They practiced as well, and after Brian talked, he handed over the PowerPoint clicker to me.
I had no idea what to say. I told Mark, and he was very kind to go over it for me again, as I took notes, which I really want to review as soon as possible, as it’s already 11:45 PM. However, I don’t want to stress about it too much, because as Mark said, this is supposed to come from the heart. I realized how grateful I was. Mark and Reneta clearly saw something in us, and I want to make them proud.
We did many things today, which I don’t want to go in great detail over, but a quick rundown:
• After the rehearsal, me, Beilul, Andrew Woo and Gonzales went back to the dorm, where we sat down and finally relaxed…. Work was over!
• We then headed down to the Ithaca mall for the first time (for me and Beilul)
• We ate a WONDERFUL meal at “Friendly’s”
• We saw the movie, “Inception” at its premiere! I WISH I wouldn’t have slept a little in the beginning because the last 2/3 was so epic.
• We headed back to Donlon, where Dyana, along with many others performed in the Talent Show! Dyana was clearly the most talented. She is such a great singer.
• I shall now work on my speech. Enjoy the pictures!
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