I never thought I would be a college person. I thought to myself, I'm going to a trade school, or I'm just going to find an ok job and work my way up to become a manager. But then I remembered all the struggles my mom went through that essentially brought the struggle onto us. Growing up it's always just been me, my mom, and my sister after my parents divorce. And it wasn't always easy. She had a very low paying job cleaning houses for people. This eventually led us to staying in a one bedroom apartment and we struggled daily to have groceries. Thinking back to this made me rethink my decisions in not wanting to pursue college. All through elementary school my friends' parents would show for career day and I saw all the successful and thriving people and thought how can i do that. I now realize college can open so many doors for you and can bring the opportunities to me instead of searching for a lifetime for an underpaying job. All my life I have always felt like I was stuck in the back seat, watching the world around me pass by never getting to choose my own direction. I had to act like the big sister which I was not ready for. And when my parents would fight I often had to defend them against each other and mediate. My sister would have a very common outburst so we went to therapy for a little while, and then it just became her and my mom. No one thought about my feelings, so instead I just bottled them up. Which eventually caused me to not be able to deal with or confront my own feelings. I've spent half of my life trying to deal with other people's chaos while ignoring my own. It's taught me to be resilient and the importance of having control over my own life. But what I didn't realize was that it shaped me into who I am today. A person that can adapt to any circumstances, that can make the best out of any bad situation and find adventure in the unknown. My lack of control taught me how much I value having it, and how set I am in having the ability to make my own life. I want to make decisions myself and explore my own limits, testing boundaries and discovering who I really am. As Robert Frost once wrote, “two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that's made all the difference.” This quote plays exactly into what I'm searching for, change and thrill. Wherever that takes me, what I'm really looking for isn't just a place but independence and growth, to be able to change my life. I want to face challenges I've never faced and learn what I'm capable of. Adventure isn't just about mountains or rivers, it's about stepping into the unknown while holding the steering wheel of my own story.

I chose Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management because it seems really exciting and fun and I feel it matches my personality very well. I've brought myself to really dissect this major and I found out that it's not just surface level management. There are so many paths and different jobs within this major and it teaches so many different skills. A major one that I am interested in is the customer experience route. I also have always been a natural problem solver and find it intriguing to throw myself into stressful situations just so see if i could fix or solve it. I have been working since I was around 14 starting from babysitting to restaurants and even to working in a veterinary office. One in particular is helping to plan a wedding. This one really stands out to me because after my moms cleaning job she was an assistant wedding planner. And she couldn't just leave us at home without any adults, so she would take us with her. And we would watch from the inside balcony seeing all the new families dancing and different types of people enter the venue, seeing how happy everyone was. I loved it.I wanted to make people happy, make them smile. This is why wedding management is a very persuading option. I also qualify in lots of the skills required for this major, a couple including leadership, strategic planning, and communication. One of the many jobs I've had was being employed at a dog grooming business. Me and one other employee were often left with just us to run the place. Opening up in the morning and closing at night. This taught me loads of responsibility at a young age and it also led me to see the behind the scenes of how a business is run. So after truly seeing what this major is all about I would love the opportunity to try it and see if the little girl peering down at all the happy, dancing people at the wedding could become someone who helps create those unforgettable moments. I want to be the person behind the scenes who turns that childhood curiosity into a career built on bringing people together and making meaningful experiences possible.