With every ending, there is a new beginning.

I do love that quote. So it turns out today my father was having lunch with a friend who happened to be affiliated with Troon Golf Management. He mentioned to my father that the Festival Ranch in Buckeye is expanding so I will be forwarding my resume to him today.

This coincident brings me back to our Networking Assignment, that the majority of jobs are found through people you know. I am grateful that my father knows many people and he is such a great resource, as he is a university professor. Although Buckeye is 56 miles from Tempe, this could be a great opportunity. There is also a DropZone there so if I happen to live and work there, I can finally get my AFF certification, which is also know as my skydiving license.

:)

The Hunt is On

It is rather depressing searching for recreation jobs because reason #1, they are often not full-time, but rather, part-time and more depressing, seasonal; reason #2 is that the pay is as low as $8.00/hr! I am better off at my part time job doing administrative work for $12/hr. I have also learned this whole searching-for-a-job-thing is very time consuming and tedious. Most of the time you have to fill our their 5 page applications! Really? What happened to "Going Green"? Sigh.

I am looking into a Master's in Teacher Certification for Special Education so if I do not find a job, I may start this program at ASU. I received good news yesterday that my lease is not up until end of June so I am hoping my bother will have fallen in love with a house and buys it so I can live with him, staying in Tempe! I wouldn't mind moving back in my parents due to free food and rent, but I'd rather not regress.

Because I need 15 total posts!

I never thought I'd do this but I applied to be a manager at Panda Express. My dad had sent me a link and they have great benefits so I figured, hell why not. I need a job right now and I do not plan this to be a long term thing. I am learning to deal better with the fact that everything is still so up in the air right now. I know I will not be homeless and starving with only the clothes on my back because I have a support system. If need be, I will move back home with my parents, have free room and board. Now that actually does not sound too bad! Well, except for the fact that my mom and I are very strong and tend to butt heads.

I was given my last check from my father today. I get these monthly checks so technically I did not have to work throughout college but I chose to anyway because I like my expensive toys (motorcycle). Well, there is really only a week left of school. I'm pretty excited. I have also been applying the skills I learned in this major to plan my grad party. Everyone's invited, even you Sara ;)

Planning the future is hardwork!

Seeing as my internship is nearing the end, I have been trying to plan the next few months after I graduate.

So far I got myself enrolled in summer school, yes you heard right, SUMMER SCHOOL!!!!!! I am taking Accounting Principles I at Mesa Community College, which is only 10 minutes away (I also ran into a guy I used to date at the admissions office. I seem to have been running into "exes" lately, hmm...) Anyway, this will only complement me both personally and professionally. One of my traits is that I like to do many things and with the constant encouragement of my father, I am finally going to learn some accounting. All I know right now is how to spend money :)

Okay, so far my plan after graduation is summer school, continuing my part time job as an administrative assistant and to party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yes, I needed multiple exclamation marks to explain how excited I am). Well, I will only keep up the partying until I land a job. I have applied to a few jobs and do have an interview this weekend for a promotional model and assistant. This role includes in coordinating and scheduling events for a local marketing company in Scottsdale. Everyone, cross your fingers and your toes! Worse comes to worse, I'll find myself a Sugar Daddy. Any takers?

Nice Legs!

Recreation provides all sorts of benefits, both for mental, physical and emotiobal well-being. I noticed today during the collegiate Big Sky Tournament that all these girls my age have fabulous, shaply legs! They look toned and tanned.

Individuals participate in recreational activities for various reasons and the main ones are for entertainment and health. We all know that in the United States, that 1 in 4 adults are overweight or obese. Not good!

Benefits of being physically active include increased lung capacity from sports participation, plus reducing serum cholesterol and hypertension, increasing bone mass, strengthening the spine, reducing disease, increase in feelings of well being, reduction in stress hormones, improved attitudes and performances, and improved social skills. For childhood development, recreational areas assist in learning, can keep kids off the streets, and enhance their confidence. Studies confirm that physical activity can aid the learning process in children. Sports activities enhance large motor skill development and social skills. Adult leaders offer positive role models to children. Group sports are well known for promoting social support, networking, and developing friendships (Ezine Articles 2009).

Spring is here so spring into action! Join your local gym, community center or round up a group of friends and play a round of kickball!

Golf is Fun.

Not. So far I have shown up to work at 6am, and to be honest, I wasn't really tired and the sunrise made all the difference. To be honest, golf is not that bad but since the wedding part of my internship was pretty intense, I feel like I don't know what to do with myself now!

The head of golf just asked if I was doing anything productive. Well, don't give me doody when I was told to show up at 11:00am and you and my internship supervisor are having a meeting! Yes I am slightly annoyed right now that I had to come here at 11:00am, taking me away from my part-time job, which means less money for me! Now how am I going to pay for my defensive driving class? Let alone buy a round of beers...

Happy Hump Day everyone!

My Friend is Mike Friend

Since my boss is out of town for the Master's a.k.a. watching golf while getting drunk, I got to know one of Troon Golf's top sales represenatives--Mike Friend.

Mike Friend worked his way to the top. He started off cleaning golf clubs in Player Services. Over the years he became Operations Manager and then finally the Sales Rep. for both individual and wholesale. He was the one who actually booked the tournament hosted by a pornography company. He did not know until days before as the client was slick enough to omit what his company was about. Mike did not have any idea as their tournament was named, "Phoenix 5th Annual Forum".

Overall, I learned a lot about Troon Golf, how they manage golf resorts and what they are all about.

"I'm not a pornstar!"

Sorry, come again??? So apparently on April 3rd, my transition to golf was quite an interesting one. It turned out that the organization hosting this golf tournament was a porn company, I mean, it was a company related to the "adult business".

There were models on site who were all but one, just that. Models. Dumb models to be honest. Some weren't even model material! I'm not trying to be mean, but come'on, at least be able to drive the golf cart properly and not run into curbs! Anyway, I say all but one were models because one of the ladies was actually a pornstar. Seeing as I am unfamiliar with adult actresses, I cannot tell you what her name was.

Moving on, all I can say is that my first day was a great one. I am now a week into golf and it is quite a contrast to weddings. This is definitely a lot more laid back but unfortunately, a lot more boring. I'm not complaining because I am EXTREMELY glad to have my weekends back, oh, except for the fact that I have to wake up at 5am tomorrow.

It's (almost) that time of year again! Beat the heat...Or not!

The costs of travel and tourism include time and money; which are barriers to certain demographics. Other barriers include where you are in the life-cycle (have young kids, being a senior, etc.). Once you overcome these barriers, the benefits of travel and tourism extends to not only the tourist, but also the economy.

In times like these, individuals and especially families are less inclined to travel with the faltering dollar. As we are approaching summer, everything gets a little cheaper. Why is that? Well, not everyone likes to roast in 115 degree weather. I don’t mind because I can wear a teeny, tiny tank top with short shorts but I don’t think that will fly at work.

Anyway, at Ocotillo, tee times go from a steep $175 per round in March, to $115 for April and May. Okay, so maybe that’s not much of a saving but still, you see my point. What is nice though is that we do have days such as “Nine and Dine”, which has been encouraging reservations in these tough times. See the flyer below for more information.



All this golf talk is getting me excited about golf! Okay not really but I do go to the golf department next week and learn to run gold tournaments. Time to go shopping for some polos, khakis and a coach purse--also known as "time to go from goth to preppy." ;)

Use your backbone will ya!?????????????

This weekend left me exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. We had a total of 3 weddings this weekend, 2 of them on Saturday, 1 of which I was responsible for.

The simultaneous weddings on Saturday were planned both by Emily, but I pretty much ran the Garcia wedding myself. Emily trusts me enough with a wedding and I am flattered by it; however, I need to learn to use my existing backbone. This was blatantly obvious when one of the guests at the wedding said I need to be more authoritative. This is easier said than done, byno means do I let people push me around. I am not a timid individual by all means, however, it seems though my confidence leaves me in the professional world thus far.

"Throw me in the river and I will in all hell try to swim". Sometimes you just need a little push or else you would not even try. I am glad that Emily challenges me in a variety of ways and more importantly, I am glad Emily trusts me. The ball is in my court now; I need to show my true colors.

A Global Organization

Did I mention that Troon, which is the brand that owns Ocotillo Golf Resort takes care of their employees extremely well? Well, they do. Once I complete my internship at Troon, I will be able to work at ANY resort that is managed by Troon--Scottsdale in Arizona, the headquarters in Australia, Dubai, and many more.

Psycological travel motivations for consumers include "getting away". For example, why else do people come to Arizona, especially in regards to snow birds? For the warm weather of course. March is the high season to golf and Arizona has the perfect winter weather for it; however, at $175 per round of golf...It is considered a luxury. Thus, the market for Troon include the middle to upper class.

Pretending to be my Boss

So the past two days, which are luckily the slowest days of our week, I had to pretend to be Emily. Emily, my catering manager and internship supervisor left for a 4 day holiday to Chicago. She left this past Saturday at 6:00pm, leaving me alone at a wedding for the remainding 2 hours. Although it was a mellow wedding, I still couldn't help feeling stressed. Bob, one of our banquet managers was on site so he acted as my safety net. The following day, the bride sent Emily a message saying we did a fabulous job. Whew! Now only 10 more weddings to survive...

Will you be my Valentine?

150. 150 hours in just under 3 weeks. At this rate I'm going to crash and burn. Haha.

In all seriousness, I definitely feel like I'm more than "just a student". I worked my second wedding on Valentine's day. At first I was feeling stressed out because the bride and groom were 45 minutes late, which threw off the time-line. With such a particular bride, I was surprised. We later found out why they were late and it was because one of the photographers was running late!

Anyway, I learned first hand why we have timelines and why they are so important. This wedding, my role was to assist Emily as another wedding coordinator. I found this more fulfilling than working in the kitchen during a banquet.

The host and guest interaction between our organization and cliental is the key to being a 4.5 star resort. I was the face of Ocotillo that night and I had to solve challenges proposed to me by guests, vendors and other staff. I had to keep everyone happy while trying to keep my sanity, or rather, keep smiling while trying not to show my true colors; I wanted to pull my hair out!

The stress subsided when I was able to solve these challenges, as well as being complimented by the bride in that we can throw one heck of a party!

All and all, the bride and groom were whisked away in their black carriage to a happily-ever-after-ending, whereas the guests were abusing the open bar and getting totally smashed! What a great night! I guess you can say their hangover will serve as a momento for their wedding :)

Money isn't Everything

In two weeks I have manage to rack up 100 hours at Ocotillo Golf Resort. They are sure getting their money's worth--if I was a paid intern. Although the original pay rate would have been nice, you cannot be a price tag on experience.

Between my part-time job, internship and schooling, my social life has seemed to have dwindled. I keep telling myself I have only 3 more months to go. Now don't get me wrong, I am extremely happy about my position. I do not take this experience for granted. I'm working with a great company that really takes care of their employees. Hey, you can't go wrong with $2.00 employee meals at Bernard's (http://www.ocotillogolf.com/Bernards-Restaurant_0bfd8c283417.html).

I never thought I'd be learning and actually doing wedding planning. At first I was overwhelmed with all the little details going into a wedding, but I have started to get used to it. I was even able to pull off 5 tours this past Saturday! It was nuts but it was awesome. The information about our facilities and wedding packages rolled easily off my tongue. I even recieved some nice compliments from the guests. This past weekend I also learned how to write and complete a BEO (Banquet Event Order), create facility and ceremony layouts, invoicing and much, much more that goes into planning a successful wedding. Oh I have also learned that our guests come from all walks of life and it saddens me to see some future brides putting down their future husbands. Got to love that ball and chain!

Introduction

I'll be honest, while I was having a grand ol' time during my winter break, I was starting to feel more and more anxious about my internship. I had heard Ocotillo was a very beautiful resort and I had the pleasure of having a heads up from Nikki, their previous intern. I think she may have even put a good word in there for me. Go Nikki!

I had interviewed about two months prior to my start date and coincidently I used to have class with one of the ladies interviewing me--Emily Stark (Catering Manager). The other two ladies included Nan Stanley, and the other lady (whose name I forgot) was a biker babe. Although I had a brain fart or two, I was fairly confident. I was even able to utilize the portfolio I conjured up in my Professional Development class.

Seeing as I am currently writing this introduction in the kitchen at Ocotillo, I am going to post this now and hopefully be able to come back and add more...