(no subject)
I changed my major on Tuesday. Sounds crazy since Im a junior but its not so bad. See I was a tourism and hospitality major and now Im a Sports and recreation major which is almost the same thing. At Temple they are under the same school and require many of the same classes. I have taken every class that I needed to that was a requirement for both, and the only class I took that was specifically for T&H was the marketing class I am in now. So all that means is I have to take marketing again for sports. Hopefully I will do that this summer, along with some gym classes to get some extra credits I will need to graduate. And if all goes well, and I get all the right classes when I need them, I will have 1 full year as well as next summer to finish my classes (and like I said maybe this summer) and I can graduate August 2007. It feels so gratifying to be this close and almost finished.
So what happened was, when I got into this major it was mostly based on instinct. I never worked ina hotel and never even stayed at hotels besides stuff in Wildwood which really is much different than any work I would do based off of my degree. For some reason I got it in my head that, this was what I wanted to do. I've always worked in customer service and I'm usually pretty good at it so I guess I thought I could do this too.
But then I got an internship. Up until then all the classes I took focused more on the event planning side of T&H, so this internship is the only thing Ive really learned about hotels. The thing is, it's boring. Sure, the hotel I work at is really small and that can be a major reason but I really don't know if I could spend the rest of my life sitting in a an office working on ways to sell my rooms to people. Plus, you really really have to kiss a lot of customer ass in this field and I don't think I am capable of that. After a year I think I would explode and probly freak on someone and lose my job anyway.
Now I dont have much experience with sports either but I jsut feel like I can be much more passionate about selling seats for a team rather then rooms for a hotel. The thing is, when someone stays at a hotel its not cuz they want to be at a hotel. Its because they need somewhere to stay while they are in that place for fun or work or whatever. Thats not fun to sel at all. But if Im finding ways to sell my seats at a sports event, its because im selling to people that want to see the team I work for, and i think thats fun, especially if I liike the team too (ahem flyers). I like knowing I can be involved in something great, something so many people enjoy. And I dont think I have to kiss as much ass.
Another reason for the switch is location. Ideally, I want to leave Philadelphia. There is a part of me that loves it here, I have a lot of pride for my city and where I come from. At the same time there are many things I hate about it here. The 1 thing that makes me want to leave though is weather. I've spent my whole life always being sick. Much of that is because of the way the weather changes, every new season I get really sick again. I really need to get away and live somewhere with consistant weather, and I would prefer it to be warm weather. But realistically, since my life never has gone the right way, I have to prepare my life as if I won't leave Philly. What if I plan my career as if it won't be here, but then I never leave? Well there is not a single part of me that wants to work for any of the hotels in center city, and in that business that is where the money and opportunity is. But when I do imagine working for a hotel, I want it to be a place people go to b/c they are on a vacation, not because they are there for business, or hospital stays like much of the clients in center city are there for. But if I were here forever there are a number of sports teams I can work for. And its not limited to just that, I can work for Comcast or the stadiums. And I still have the opportunity to leave. I would really perfer to work for the NHL over anythign else. California has 3 hockey teams but I'd mostly be interested in going to like Nevada or Arizona and then I can work for the Phoenix Coyotes.
So what happened was, when I got into this major it was mostly based on instinct. I never worked ina hotel and never even stayed at hotels besides stuff in Wildwood which really is much different than any work I would do based off of my degree. For some reason I got it in my head that, this was what I wanted to do. I've always worked in customer service and I'm usually pretty good at it so I guess I thought I could do this too.
But then I got an internship. Up until then all the classes I took focused more on the event planning side of T&H, so this internship is the only thing Ive really learned about hotels. The thing is, it's boring. Sure, the hotel I work at is really small and that can be a major reason but I really don't know if I could spend the rest of my life sitting in a an office working on ways to sell my rooms to people. Plus, you really really have to kiss a lot of customer ass in this field and I don't think I am capable of that. After a year I think I would explode and probly freak on someone and lose my job anyway.
Now I dont have much experience with sports either but I jsut feel like I can be much more passionate about selling seats for a team rather then rooms for a hotel. The thing is, when someone stays at a hotel its not cuz they want to be at a hotel. Its because they need somewhere to stay while they are in that place for fun or work or whatever. Thats not fun to sel at all. But if Im finding ways to sell my seats at a sports event, its because im selling to people that want to see the team I work for, and i think thats fun, especially if I liike the team too (ahem flyers). I like knowing I can be involved in something great, something so many people enjoy. And I dont think I have to kiss as much ass.
Another reason for the switch is location. Ideally, I want to leave Philadelphia. There is a part of me that loves it here, I have a lot of pride for my city and where I come from. At the same time there are many things I hate about it here. The 1 thing that makes me want to leave though is weather. I've spent my whole life always being sick. Much of that is because of the way the weather changes, every new season I get really sick again. I really need to get away and live somewhere with consistant weather, and I would prefer it to be warm weather. But realistically, since my life never has gone the right way, I have to prepare my life as if I won't leave Philly. What if I plan my career as if it won't be here, but then I never leave? Well there is not a single part of me that wants to work for any of the hotels in center city, and in that business that is where the money and opportunity is. But when I do imagine working for a hotel, I want it to be a place people go to b/c they are on a vacation, not because they are there for business, or hospital stays like much of the clients in center city are there for. But if I were here forever there are a number of sports teams I can work for. And its not limited to just that, I can work for Comcast or the stadiums. And I still have the opportunity to leave. I would really perfer to work for the NHL over anythign else. California has 3 hockey teams but I'd mostly be interested in going to like Nevada or Arizona and then I can work for the Phoenix Coyotes.