Classes started on September 3 and it took a while to get used to the new professors (it always takes some time), but once classes got rolling everything started to get better and I started to realize the vast similarity between Leo and John Cabot (small classes, individual attention, approachable faculty and staff). I started to explore faster and better ways to get home by using the bus and walking. It is definitely a different world. I am a little less homesick than I was when I first arrived in Rome and I have realized that I am truly in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I have met people from all over the US and all over the world. I have seen things that I can’t even describe in words. It is humbling to think that the streets beneath you were once walked by Julius Caesar, the Medici family, Michelangelo, DaVinci, etc. Not a bad history!!!

One of the great things about Saint Leo is the fact that our professors give us the best opportunities to network with people in high positions in our fields of study because they are still so involved in what they teach. In the International Hospitality and Tourism Management Department we are lucky to have the Industry Liaison Council which meets regularly to be informed of what we are taught in the classroom and to make sure we see what is happening in the industry firsthand. A new way of doing this is every year they sponsor a trip to see a hub of the tourism market and what companies have to offer. This trip gives a chance to network and ask executives for advice about getting a job or how they got to where they are today. This year the trip was to Atlanta and I was given the chance to attend. There are no words to describe what we, the other three students and I, experienced being able to meet these people who have advanced so high in the Tourism industry. We met people from all sectors because we visited the headquarters of Intercontinental Hotel Groups, Coca Cola, CNN, and Delta Airlines. One of the conditions of this trip is that we create a presentation about our trip and present at Academic Excellence Day (a whole day devoted to students and their projects and showing what they have learned) and the ILC meeting on the 21st of April… wish me luck!!!

The Coca Cola Polar Bear!!! (I love those commercials)

This building was huge!!!!!!!

On our way to the 3D show and wanting to be Charlie's Angels

In front of CNN Headquarters

Checking out the weather maps for the Atlantic International flights at Delta

The Spirit of Delta

The engine is bigger than me!!!!