International Study - Estonian Culture

I was given the amazing opportunity to spend a semester abroad at the University of Tartu in the small, Baltic country of Estonia. I was able to take classes with people from all across the globe at a school that is in the top 3% of universities in the world.

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International Study - Economics of Wine

I am beyond grateful that I had the opportunity to fit another study abroad into my academic plan. During the WinTerm of my senior year, I completed the Economics of Wine course for the January in Cape Town program through CIEE. During my time there, I was able to experience their diverse cultures as well as take part in class co-curriculars that included meeting with owners, financial and marketing leaders, and social outreach coordinators of wine farms around the West and Central Cape. 

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HT 101 – Principles of Hospitality Organizational Management

HT 101 was one of the most helpful classes that I've gotten the privilege to take. Not only has it taught me skills like what the makings of a good manager are, it also taught me quite a bit about myself in the process. Before starting this class, the only terms that I would use to describe myself were timid and introverted, but after going through exercises like personality tests and group problem solving, I have already made tremendous bounds towards growing into the person I'm going to be.

I think the biggest thing that this course taught me was about people; through reading Hospitality from the Heart and going through different scenarios, it's helped me gain the confidence to believe that I can become a successful member of the hospitality industry.

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HT 121 – Principles of Foodservice Operations

HT 121 was an extremely enlightening class, and although it may have also been wildly intimidating, I'm beyond thankful that I was given the opportunity to take it. I learned a multitude of different facts about the guidelines for food safety, knife cuts, kitchen equipment, menu terms, American, French, and Russian table services, and table settings. This class was a great first look into the food and beverage industry and was a great experience for my first time in a commercial kitchen. My professor taught me to strive for perfection instead of just good enough and helped the class transfer this over into whatever career they choose.

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HT 140 – Principles of Tourism

This course perfectly aligned with my own sense of wanderlust. We learned about trends of travel as well as the mindset of a tourist and touched on some of the things to keep in mind when traveling to various countries. Our main project of the semester was exploring the different travel and excursion options in our chosen state or country, and I feel as though this was the perfect way to start dipping into the tourism industry.

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HT 235 – Lodging Systems

Lodging Systems was a rather interesting class; much more so than I was expecting it to be. Because I'm not looking to focus on the lodging sector of the hospitality industry, I started off the class feeling like it was going to be a waste of time. Throughout the course, however, I realized that I was gaining insights about the importance of having a working knowledge of the processes of other aspects of the location you work in and how that will help when I become a manager in this industry. 

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HT 252 - Professionalism 

(Currently Enrolled)

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HT 325 – Food Service Production & Operations Management

Because of my interest in the food and beverage sector of the hospitality industry, this class was right up my alley; it's actually the course that led me to my first internship in the kitchen of Fox Hills Resort. We learned basic kitchen knowledge like temperatures, cooler organization, and sanitation in the first few weeks of the semester, but after that every class was in the kitchen. We were divided into groups, and each one was given a different type of meal that we would be the managers for (cafeteria, table d'hote, fine dining, etc); my group was given 'fine dining'. For a few weeks we tested out recipes, and then during the last few weeks we put on a meal for friends, family, staff members, and students where we actually went through service as though this were our restaurant. This course pushed me outside my comfort zone again and again, but I feel as though I have gained and strengthened so many skills because of it. 

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HT 326 – Introduction to Wine and Spirits

Intro to Wine and Spirits was my favorite course that I have taken in the HRTM program at UW-Stout. It is overflowing with information, and the passion that my professor had for the subject is now instilled in me. Though I may have had some questions on the amount of skill the art of wine tasting took, I now understand the complexity of it and am looking to continue my learning any chance I can get.

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HT 340 - Development of Tourism Attractions

(Currently Enrolled)

 

HT 344 – Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales

Marketing and Sales was a surprising course because even though I do not plan to go into the sales portion of the hospitality industry, I learned that sales has connections to almost every part of the industry. Our task for the semester was to create a marketing plan for our purposed organization, and by working in a group I was able to grow both as a leader and a contributing group member, as well as strengthen skills such as creative thinking and problem-solving. 

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HT 345 -Hospitality Sales

Much like my viewpoint for HT 344, I wasn't too keen on the idea that I had to take another sales class. I was pleasantly surprised, however, that one of the topics we focused on was the idea of selling ourselves to employers by doing things like practicing our "30-second elevator pitch". We also learned about the different stages in the selling process and got to choose a product to do an in-depth look at and critique it based on our new-found knowledge of sales. 

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HT 350 - Hospitality Diversity Management 

(Currently Enrolled)

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HT 383 – Yield Management

Yield management isn't really the most well-known branch of the hospitality industry, but through HT 383 I learned just how important this department is to a company. This isn't the toughest of subject matters, but doing it well requires the knowledge of many different working parts. It was also in this class that I learned the importance of departments working together (such as yield management and marketing should). 

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HT 391 – Social Media Marketing Management

Like most "millennials", I am pretty aware of the importance of social media, and use it on basically a daily basis. Because of this, I thought this course was going to be more self-explanatory than it was. This course went through several different platforms, pointing out things like how to use them to make posts, when is the best times to post, how often you should post, and the demographics of each. Our main project was to create a social media plan for a company that not only described the nature of posts and which platforms we chose, but also an analysis of the customer demographic and why we made the decisions we did. 

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HT 450 - Food Service Administration

(Currently Enrolled) ​

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HT 454 – Security and Risk Management

This course was extremely informational, and it was one of the classes that I wouldn’t have guessed would be where I saw the largest number of things that would directly apply to my future position(s) in the hospitality industry. From what type of trees you shouldn’t plant in your yard to signage and best practices, this course provided me with the information necessary to keep myself, my future staff, and customers safe in the workplace.

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HT 457 - Hospitality Management Strategies

(Currently Enrolled)

 

HT 460 – Hospitality Industry Law and Liability

HT 460 - Hospitality Industry Law and Liability was a course that was filled to the brim with relevant information that a manager in any sector of the hospitality industry would more than likely use on a daily basis. This course taught not only the standards that are already in place, but it also set me up to be able to keep up with these standards as new ones are integrated into our industry.

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HT 461 – Hospitality Employee Relations

Employee relations was an extremely informative class, and I am certain that I will use this material on a daily basis. 

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HT 490 - Hospitality Capstone

(Currently Enrolled) ​

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PM 280 - Hospitality Facilities Management

(Currently Enrolled) 

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GEM 311 - Customer Experience Management

(Currently Enrolled) ​

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COMST 312 - Intercultural Communication

(Currently Enrolled) ​

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ANTH 220 - Cultural Anthropology

(Currently Enrolled) ​