Q: Why did you choose to come to the University of Missouri?
A: Starting out I was convinced that I wanted to go to a school out of state and move away to start new. I quickly changed my mind when I took a tour of Mizzou. I fell in love with the beautiful campus and all of the pretty scenery. Everyone I met on my tour was more than happy to help me and was very welcoming. I really felt at home and that is what was most important to me when looking at a college was if I could see myself there.
Q: Why did you choose to pursue your degree?
A: Originally, I was not a Hospitality Management major. I went through two prior majors before hospitality. I was unsure what I wanted to do after my first two semesters here because I disliked my first two majors. My mom said “why don’t you try Hospitality Management, you have always loved planning things and are a very outgoing person?” I didn’t have anything else, so I went with it. After taking Dr. Amanda Alexander’s Intro to Hospitality, I fell in love. It may have been for her convincing lecture or how caring she is for each and every one of her students, but I decided to stay. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Q: Did you partake in any research, study abroad, or internship opportunities? What did you enjoy about those experiences?
A: My sophomore year I studied abroad with the Business School to Prague, Czech Republic. It was such an amazing experience to experience and live in a different place and experience the culture for a month. Through the program I had the opportunity to do a research internship where I worked with The District here in Columbia to research the unsheltered population here in town. This was something that I was not very familiar with, and it was a very rewarding experience as well as eye opening.
An internship I had through the Hospitality Program was the 2024 & 2025 Missouri State FFA Career Expo. I, along with four other people, were chosen to plan, start to finish, the State Career Expo for Missouri FFA. I was in charge of logistics and communications. This experience really gave me real-world experience in the aspect of planning something from scratch to seeing it happen in real life in front of your eyes. I did this two years in a row and was very thankful to have such a great opportunity.
Q: What is a favorite memory you have during your time in CAFNR?
A: My all-time favorite memory recently just happened at the beginning of April. I had the opportunity, through the student organization Mizzou Special Events Society, to go down to San Antonio, Texas, and volunteer at the Men’s Final Four. It was such a great learning experience, and we had so much fun.
Q: How did your degree program prepare you for the future?
A: I couldn’t have asked for a better program to be a part of to prepare me for the future. Not only are all of the teachers great, but they also prepare you for life after college. We are given real-life scenarios as well as putting on actual events for us to get the real deal while still in college. They don’t just teach about hospitality content; they also teach you what being out in the real world looks like, which a lot of the time comes from their personal experiences.
Q: What are your future plans?
A: After graduation I will be working for Veterans Untied Home Loans as an Event Coordinator here in Columbia, Missouri.