Jennifer King - BA in International Hotel Management
The program taught me about finance, accounting, risk management, entrepreneurship and multicultural issues.
Motivation behind education can be a funny thing. At first I entered Royal Roads University’s BA in International Hotel Management because it was a good reason to stay in Victoria. But during the first day of classes, I realized the program was exactly what I wanted for my career.
The BA program focused my thinking on what I could do with my life. From that first day I squeezed as much as I could out of the courses and my instructors; from that first day I could see changes within myself.
I moved to Canada from Taiwan more than a decade ago to attend high school. After, I took a hotel and restaurant management program in Vancouver and worked at the front desk at a small chain hotel at the airport, along with a handful of other jobs: retail clerk in a chocolate store, an ink jet cartridge filler and finally at the Great Canadian Casino as a croupier, a fancy way of saying card dealer.
I transferred to the casino in Victoria while my husband Tony finished his bachelor of commerce degree at Royal Roads University (we’re a bit of a Royal Roads family now). Casino work is different every day and has its challenges, to say the least. You need to be quick with your math and have smooth public relations skills. I love the work, but to move up I needed more education.
The one-year Bachelor of Arts in International Hotel Management program was my ticket for advancing into supervisor and management positions. Gaming isn’t always associated with the hospitality industry, but casinos are integral to many hotels around the world.
The program taught me about finance, accounting, risk management, entrepreneurship and multicultural issues. We had speakers come from vineyards, international hotels, hospitality consulting companies and Victoria and Vancouver Island tourism associations. We saw the entire industry inside and out.
None of it was easy and at the beginning it was hard to see how the curriculum and information fit together. But the final course of each semester wrapped all our newfound skills into one package. The puzzle pieces fit and the team-based learning was phenomenal. After three days together, 15 of us from all around the world were inseparable friends.
Now I see myself having what it takes to become a general manager at a resort casino anywhere in the world. My career is about managing those who roll the dice, but for me Royal Roads was a sure bet.
