My name is Jennifer Benson and I am currently a senior at ASU. I will be graduating in May 2009. I am so excited to where I will end up and to see what I will be doing. The future is so unpredictable, that at times it makes me nervous but I know everything happens for a reason. For my BIS degree I have chosen Human Communication and Tourism Development and Management. When I was a freshman in college I had no idea what I wanted to do. There were so many options that I was interested in. I will never forget the moment when I decided on what to major in.
My best friend Lauren was studying abroad in Norwich, London. I went to visit and travel with her for about 2 and half weeks. We were on a train coming back from spending the weekend in London and traveling back to Norwich. We talked about all the different opportunities and majors that I could try and she mentioned Human Communication. I was like how to do you major in communication it seems to easy and broad. Lauren said, “I think that major would be perfect for you because you love to be around people and learn about them”. “Majoring in communication, you will not only learn about people but you learn how to communicate and understand other cultures, interact with others in certain situations and just understand the idea behind communicating with other human beings”. I had never felt so relieved in my life. I sat there on the 2 hour train ride smiling because I figured it out! I am not really sure how I decided to major in Tourism, I guess you could say I followed my heart. My whole life I have been interested in the world and its beauty. I have never been the type of person to stay in one place and I have always wanted to experience everything. I thought majoring in Tourism would open that door to many possibilities and opportunities for me to see the world and explore everything it has to offer. So far in my life I have been to eight different countries and traveled around the US. I am certainly not done. One of my goals in life is to travel to Egypt and it will happen! :)
Anyways enough of my hopes and dreams, let’s talk about the present. I will be doing my applied study with Hospitality Performance Network. Basically our company is a site selection and consulting firm for corporate meeting planners. Meeting planning is something that I am interested in and will be focusing a lot on that aspect of the company during my internship. Right now in my applied study I am currently a marketing representative. Later on I will be working with the operations side of the company and will help onsite at the meetings. During this internship I hope to learn academically that I can incorporate my communication skills in a corporate environment. I also want to gain knowledge about the hospitality industry so that during my job search I am able to communicate effectively with industry professionals. On a personal level I want this experience to send me in a positive direction to where I need to be in my career.
So far my responsibilities have been to make sales calls to corporations, accounts, and associations, small and large businesses and sell our services to meeting planners. I have also been working the marketing manager and learning behind the scenes administrative work! Everything has been great this week and last! So far both of my concentrations are being well observed. I am using my communication skills everyday and while making sales calls. I am using the tourism side because I am talking with hotels and learning about the hospitality industry.
As far as my future goals I am an open book. I would really like to work in a hotel/resort when I graduate and that is my main goal right now. I am currently in a great position as far as working with Hospitality Performance Network. I have already met so many great people while being here that are in the hotel industry. As of right now I am on the right path to success.