Still Skeptical

Today was the official start of Summer College. I woke up panicking because I thought I was late, but it was 6:53 AM and my alarm was set for 6:55 AM, so I settled down. I went to the bathroom, did my whole morning routine and by 7:25 AM I was in RPCC for breakfast. I got the same exact breakfast as yesterday for some reason. There, I met up with other Hotel Management students and we ended up walking to class. We got to Statler Hall room 396 at 8:15 AM, 15 minutes before class started, yet there was already a lot of students seated. There were actually name placards at each desk. I was excited to get a front row seat, so of course my name was in the back. It didn't matter though because after Mark and Reneta spoke for 20 or so minutes, the entire class was separated into two groups: group A and group B. The groups I think we're basically created to organize the massive class of some 80 students. Anyhow, I was in group B, which meant I was going to the computer lab first. 

My first lecture notes... are really unorganized.

Here we immediately were assigned work. The instructions were in our course packet, so it was pretty much up to us to figure out what to do. First, we had to take a survey that determined our behavioral style. There were 24 sets of 4 words and we picked which we resonated the most with. I found out I was an analyzer-analyzer. The results were scarily accurate. Here's what being an analyzer-analyzer entails: 

"Analyzer-Analyzers tend to be most competent at doing things the “right” way.  They establish very high performance and behavior standards for themselves and for others.  Their ability to pay attention to detail is a strength.  Often, after listening to hours of meeting dialogue, they can itemize the three crucial points that were made. 

One of their significant contributions, though not always perceived as such by others, is maintaining quality control.  They tend to be precise and systematic and follow standard procedures in both work and personal life. Sometimes, while in search of facts and details, they lost sight of the purpose or “big picture.”  Dealing with rapid change or making decisions without enough time or facts is difficult and causes tension.

Because of their need to do things perfectly, they tend to react defensively to criticism.  When they provide information or answers to questions, everyone can rely on their accuracy."

Next, we had to write a one-page memo to our professors describing why we picked the course, what was one interesting thing about ourself, what was our behavioral style and what we agreed with from the results. It was fairly simple, but I was a little flustered as I did not expect an assignment right off the bat. But once again I survived. I saved the file, printed out a copy and handed it to the TA, put it on to my flash drive and uploaded it to Blackboard. By then, an hour had passed and now the groups switched. We returned to the classroom and introduced ourselves. I met a girl named Miranda, who I'll be exchanging notes with later tonight as a study aid for our quiz tomorrow.

Where we eat lunch

Inside Trillium

 At 11:30 PM it was time for lunch so I walked with Alli (another Hotel Management student on my floor) and walked to the Trillium, where lunch will be held from now on. The food was pricey and bland. By 12:30 PM we were already back in our seats as our first lecture began. Reneta went in great deal discussing the biggest names of the industry and how they were classified. We learned classify hotels by service (luxury, upper upscale, upscale, middle upscale and economy) and and also by diamonds (run by Triple A) and stars (run by Forbes.com). There was tons of information, which I will have to study for the quiz tomorrow. But overall it was interesting, despite being fast-paced. I do feel like a bit of an outcast because I don't know really anything about the hotel industry, but oh well. 

Sushi, yes!!!

We were then split up into 20 groups of 4. Luckily, I got an all girl group, which makes things a bit less awkward. There names are Sabrina, Yuyuen and Dani. We were put together based on our behavioral styles, so I hope everything goes well, considering I'll be with these people for the next 3 weeks. We even have a 10-minute presentation next Monday on a hotel company: we were given the Hilton company. It seems fun!

After class, we had two hours of office hours, which to me, basically means study hall. We got to do our homework and group work and were let out 30 minutes early because we worked hard today. I walked to RPCC for dinner, where I discovered sushi. It was great. Around 7:30 PM, I came back to my dorm and have decided to study by retyping my notes and then I will sleep.

I enjoyed my first day, but I feel like the worst has yet to come...