Good afternoon!
Even though today is an official school holiday, us, Hotelies, are hard at work, putting the last touches to the CHESS individual report. The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate our familiarity (and ABILITY!) to work with Excel and Word, but most importantly, to be able to write a business report or proposal, outlining all the points as well as items of analysis.
Since Mr. McCarthy and Mrs. McCarthy have allocated such a short time for the report to be due, many students have been scrambling all day. Because they acknowledge the fact that we are all focused and studious, they have provided us an extension of one hour before the report has to be finalized. Assigned from submitting a hard copy, all students must send the piece to Mr. McCarthy electronically in order for him to judge the formatting and the cohesiveness of it. Take note, future Hotelies! Be familiar with Microsoft Office products.
Potential ILC scholars, do not be surprised with having guest speakers come in weekly to talk about the hospitality industry because it is too dynamic for one or two instructors to cover all facets of this realm. Having a guest speaker is common on Statler Hotel grounds. Speaking to us today is Bryan, who has a Cornell degree under his belt and has worked with Royal Carribean cruises. Because he holds a higher position within his field, he manages and oversees a big chunk of the company. These presentations are rewarding to listen to, simply because the information the guest speakers provide have merely expanded my knowledge.
Back home, I wish I have been more exposed to guest speakers because there is such a shortage of them in schools. Learning should always go beyond the classroom, and I strongly believe that the Summer College has allowed me to do so. So far, I have been familiar with who the dean and the director are, as well as other respected faculty members on school ground. I must credit the education I have received back home because it has provided me a strong foundation to work with, preparing me more than ever to take on a college curriculum.
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Stacy,
ReplyDeleteI hope that you can appreciate that we’re hanging on every word you’re writing and taking notes about the deficiencies that are affecting you.
In particular, the failure to properly alert us of the importance of mastering the Office Suite quite literally until the class was almost upon us and to make it clear that having and knowing Office 2007 was so critical. We now know better and will be better prepared in the future. All they had to do was let us know and we would have prepared you all in much the same way we tried to prepare the other students with their textbooks.
I sent several emails asking about technical needs and it took forever to get responses and they were not as complete as we might have hoped.
I’m also hearing what you’re writing about the guest speakers. It’s something we need to look into so we can do a better job with our students.
As the students, you’re the ones on the front lines and if we put ANY faith in you at all we need to listen to what you have to say. It doesn’t do any of you any good for us to impose those ideas of ours that may be decades old. Things change and we need to take heed.
Thanks Stacy,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you are mentioning what future ILC students should expect from being in the Hotel Schools Program. I may have you sit in as an interviewer next year with the group that will be attending this program. Your words are helpful and give future readers a better understanding of the demands of the program.
What I am finding puzzling is why you did not have the same hectic and frantic day that Louisa and Yueming had in doing there work. Why was your day and evening so much different? What did you do that allowed you to get a decent nights sleep? Or did you not mention the craziness of the evening.
One thing that I want to say is that Louisa and Yueming obviously got their work done and it appears that they are happy with their product, but in the future, they will have to understand that staying up all night is a recipe for disaster.
If I read my law practice in such a way I would surely fail. One must get proper sleep and have balance. If you understand your assignment and now the responsibilites working late into the night becomes unnecessary. I want you to take that as a valuable learning lesson and strive to know the amount of work that is needed to complete a project without having to do the "all nighter".
When I was at UCLA, I saw tons of students pulling all nighters and I can say that I never understood it. I made sure that I never put myself in that position. As a lawyer, I continue to this day to get proper rest and do my work well in advance so that I have balance to my life. You also see that I am able to respond to almost all of the posts that have been done by all the students. I am able to do this because I am very disciplined and I finish the work before I stop.
I hope you take a valuable lesson from this past couple of days. I also want to remind you and the others that we pleaded with you to take Don up on his offer to load Microsoft Office 2007. We were told "don't bother". I hope that in the future you will work with us to ensure that our students are prepared prior to taking the journey to Ithaca.
By the way, you have not mentioned your feelings about being at Cornell. Do you like it? Do you see yourself as someone who will want to stay close to home? What will you share with Ms. Kim? How do you view your College Application process?
Please also take the time to take a campus tour and listen to an informational session with the Hotel School? I hope that you will continue to explore and keep an open mind about what will be of value to you in the future? I want you to do well and being at Cornell provides you the tools to succeed.
Has the Ivy League Connection opened your eyes to the world outside of our School District? How have you changed as a person? Do you feel that you have learned more about the college admissions process? Will you consider more East Coast schools as a result of being in this program?
One thing that has been absent from all of our ILC student posts is if they will mentor a younger student coming into their high school next year. Can you see yourself talking to a 10th grader at Hercules High School about your experience, as well as taking them to some informational nights? We did it for all of you, will you do it for others? Let us know.
What advice would you give to our school counselors. Ms. Kent reads the blog. What advice or insight would you share with her. How can you make her better, what does she need to know to make her work more effective and relevant. These are all important questions. We want to improve our school district and only through your comments can we make improvements.
Hope all else is well and please enjoy the balance of your Fourth of July.
Charles T. Ramsey, Esq.
School Board Member
West Contra Costa
Unified School District