Originally, I was a Psychology Major.  It wasn’t until my sophomore year, when my friend Ashley who was a Hospitality Major, convinced me to accompany her to the HTM barbeque.  It was there that I was able to talk to some hospitality students and professors more about what it meant to study hospitality.  I decided that before I committed myself to changing my major completely, I should join a HTM organization to learn more and reap social benefits of the close-knit program.  I joined MESA, the Meetings and Events Student Association, where I attended monthly meetings, numerous events, and even the annual weekend trip to LA.  It was this trip that convinced me to make the decision to change my major to Hospitality.  I had so much fun on the trip getting to know the students and build friendships, tour awesome venues around Los Angeles, and learn some of the basic principles of hospitality.  I got to see how carefree hospitality could be. But I had yet to experience the challenging part of the major.  When I switched over my major, the first class that I took was HTM 201.  Although this class was my initial peak into the next few years of my college career, it wasn’t until HTM 301 that the stress of the major hit me. I really struggled with all of the elaborate work and presentations that were assigned in HTM 301.  I doubted my ability to improve on any of the competencies and was overall in a bad place with myself.  I even considered switching my major again because I was so overwhelmed with my class and workload, 301 being one of the main stressors.  I stumbled, a lot, but I got right back up and pushed through the struggles.  I was able to learn how to prioritize my school over work, and how to plan my assignments better.  I made it through that tough semester, which was the first of many.  Now, after 4 ½ years of overcoming obstacles, I am almost graduated from college!