Hershey Project
At James Madison University I had the opportunity to take an events management course. During this course we were put into groups and assigned a company to plan a three day event for. We were fortunate enough to be able to work with Hershey Destination Services thoughout this project. They acted as our company and we had three phone calls with them to get an idea of what they were looking for and what they wanted out of with this conference. My finished proposal can be found by clicking the icon on the left.
Themed Dinner
For two semesters my final year of college I was put into a group of six to plan our own event. Throughout the planning and execution as a team we were in charge of every aspect of this event from the menu, to the decor, and the staff training. There were two BOH managers, two reception managers, and two dining room managers. I was fortunate enough to be a dining room manager which gave me a lot of hands on experience in the events industry. .
Wine Course in Napa and Sonoma
Summer of 2015 I enrolled in what became not only one of my favorite classes but what inspired my passion and love of the wine, and beverage, industry. I spent a week in Napa and Sonoma California with a class of about 15, including two professors. Our classroom was a van, and on some nights it was also my professors hotel room. This class opened my eyes to the wine industry and how much there is to learn. This class was the reason why I decided to work at Grace Estate Winery. I thought, why not take my knowledge from this course and apply it to a job. Little did I know that this would become a passion of mine and an urge to learn even more.
Restaurant
The Hart School (Hospitality Management) at James Madison University had some very difficult classes. One of these classes included Cost Control and Budgeting. One large project in this class was creating our own restaurant. We played this project as Shark Tank, asking our class to fund us and why. We presented to the class with an excel workbook with several spreadsheets and a video that I created (thanks to my Media Arts and Design Major).