Dad, mom, guys this is my last paper as a student. as i send this. the process is over. only the graduation rites left. wohoo!!

* read this all if you have the time, kinda long:P

** But if you guys feel lazy, Just Read the Third month:)

comments please:)

miss you guys!! :D:D

 

Rajino Emmanuel F. Santos HH3

BS-HRIM 10757643

 

1st month, December 13, 2011- January 13, 2011.

 

The moment I found out that I was bound for Florida,USA for my internship, I was sure that this was going to be a great adventure. So many things came into my mind. Family, friends, love ones. Suddenly, for the first time in my life, I find myself thinking about my future and my career in the hospitality industry. I know that this six month internship would open big doors and opportunities for me. I was filled with mixed emotions that were hard to explain. I felt overjoyed that I was given a great opportunity like this one and at the same time, the thought of leaving my family for six long months was very sad. One thing that also crossed my mind was that my college life is about to end. In a flash, college memories flashed right in front me like a slide show. From the frosh years to sophomore years and finally junior year. How time really flies. I still remember very clearly my first day in college as I was very scared and thinking about the many possibilities that could be. I was filled with excitement. And today I find myself ten thousand miles away from my school and family. just like that, my college years is about to come to an end. Im happy though that I know that I did live it to the fullest, the best I could. Thinking back I would have probably do some things differently but still, no regrets.

 

As I arrived in Florida, I first visited my friends in Miami where they went one month ahead of me. I stayed there for ten days and had such a wonderful time. As I have so much free time, I tried to maximize my stay there. But seeing them go to work and come back from their work or training and back just makes me excited to start my own training. I was going to have my Internship in Gasparilla Inn & Club located in Boca Grande, Florida. About two hours drive from Miami. I was so eager to learn and show my skills to everyone. I arrived in the Gasparilla

Inn where I was received warmly by everyone and I was led to my room in the employee housing which the Gasparilla Inn provides. I was roomed in with my Long time friend and college mate. I was surprised that the room was at a great shape and was fully furnished with a Television, Refrigerator, closets, microwave oven provided, internet is free too! I have everything a man can ask for! I saw everyone from College of St. Benilde and as we gathered, everyone was just voicing out their expectations of what to come in the next six months. And almost instantly, people were already spreading gossips. Funny actually, but as I found out through time no matter how hard you try to avoid gossip, it’s just part of reality . That’s one of the things I learned to accept. We actually had a few days off before Employee Orientation. We got the chance to tour and explore the place by ourselves. Boca Grande is actually an island in South West Florida. it is known for its deep see fishing especially Tarpon Fishing. It has centuries old lighthouses that still work to this day. It has now become a landmark. It also has beautiful beaches. Though honestly, I still think the beaches in the Philippines are more elegant and beautiful, call it bias because I’m a Filipino but I believe the beaches in the Philippines are just incomparable to any beach in the world.

 

First day of work was a lunch shift together with my fellow Practicumer Josef Torres. For the first time in a long time, I had that feeling of excitement and being nervous at the same time. It was like first day of high school or college again. I was just so glad I’m coming in my first day with someone I know. As we clocked in for the first time, we were toured around the vicinity of the place. (Lunches in the hotel were held in the beach club along the Gasparilla Shore). We were told that our main job was to serve and buss food. Personally as tourism major, I have zero knowledge of this. But then again, i was more than willing to learn so I just observed at first. There were a few customers who had their lunch and by around four thirty afternoon, we were sent home. First day wasn’t that bad. A day after, I got a call from the Human resource manager and told me that I would be transferred to the Hotel owned restaurant called the Pink Elephant together with my friend and college mate Josef Torres. I found this as positive news for even before starting work, people were already lobbying for positions at the Pink Elephant because they say it makes good business and because the Boca Grande Town where the island is located is virtually a small island; the Pink Elephant Restaurant was relatively well known. We had a few days off before starting working at our new post. The Pink Elephant was a little different compared to the Hotel Dining Room where other Filipinos were assigned. The Pink Elephant is a casual restaurant and just has a relaxing atmosphere where families can just dine in and relax. The Hotel Dining room is more formal for it has a fine dining setting. Guests should have jackets and service has a strict code. Both basically have the same uniforms except for the neck ties. People who are assigned at the dining room wear green neck ties and we from the Pink Elephant wear Pink neck ties.

 

As I was about to start my first day at the Pink Elephant, I felt something that I have never felt before. I felt like I was a new student coming to his first class at his new school. Sort of my first day of college. I didn’t know anyone, how the people in there are and how they work. I planned to just get through the day without making any bad impressions and at the same time make first

good impressions for they say, first impressions lasts. I was given a short tour of the restaurant and was given as quick briefing about my work. My official title is a Server Assistant. I assist servers in whichever way I can possibly can. Help buss tables, clean them and reset them. so that’s what I did with not being too familiar with the place. After a few weeks, i started to socialize with the people more and make friends. They were all kind enough and patient enough to teach me new things. I’m beginning to adjust to my work very well and I was also starting to feel like I am part of the system in the Pink Elephant. I served many people, cleared and bussed God knows how many tables and poured water on the goblets of different kinds of people but the one experience I will never forget is that serving the forty first and forty third president of the United States of America which was George W. Bush Sr. and George W. Bush Jr. I was so excited and star struck to be honest. I also felt proud to be able to serve them for I know even for Americans, its not every day you get to serve the President let alone the president who is arguably one of the most controversial in recent history. After serving the Bush’s, I felt that I could serve anyone at that point with confidence. That was just what I needed for I believe that one key to being successful in this industry is being confident knowing that what you are doing is right.

 

Rajino Emmanuel F. Santos HH3

BS-HRIM 10757643

 

 

2nd Month, January 14-Febuary 14, 2011

 

As I start my second month training, I am trying my best to adjust well. Something I did not see coming was home sickness. People always talk about it and how hard it is to be away from ones family. I never thought it would be bothering me that much. I was surprised that homesickness hit me very hard. Maybe I didn’t know at the time but I was feeling home sick. I was very grumpy and just wanted to do all my work heads down and be alone at my room. While everyone was partying and having fun, I choose to stay at my room and just listen to music or watch movies. I tried to think hard about it, what was happening and tried so hard to comprehend what was happening. I wasn’t like this before, Id never let the opportunity to bond with my friends and have a good time pass by, but here I am choosing to be alone. I just try to survive each day. Another day is another fight.

 

Work for me has now become of my routine. I am so blessed that I enjoy doing my work. I love going to work, I love doing my job and just be part of the Pink Elephant team. I believe that the

hospitality industry is not for everyone. now that ive been working for about a month now and knows and ins and outs of this restaurant, what to do, what not to do, this theory of mine that the hospitality industry is not for everyone is being proven and is being more of a fact now that im seeing how other people work and perform. In the Pink Elephant, the crews are all from different nations. There are Romanians, Jamaicans, Italians, nationalities from Dominican Republic, Russians and of course Americans. Add us Filipinos and the Restaurant crew is a very diverse and colorful one! But what set each nationality apart is their work habits. As I work with Americans, (young ones in particular) I find that they don’t like being in their work place. They don’t say this out loud but it shows in their body language. The way they stand, look, appear, dress up, you can tell they are now enjoying it. All of us have different motivations and reasons why we are here. My number one motivation and reason why I’m here is because I want to be rich not in money but rich in experience. That’s what fuels me and just take whatever task I have been given. Some have just money on their minds, I don’t get it sometimes but in due time I learned to adjust with them. Some of my workmates just want to do their hours and get out.( We are paid here by the hour) they really don’t seem to care if the tasks given to us is done or not done, when its time to go, its time to go. Now this for me is opportunity for I am eager to show my eagerness to help by staying behind and showing the Management that I am flexible and reliable. Now this is why hospitality is not for everyone. as all of my years in college taught me, hospitality is all about service. Being in this industry, not like in the corporate world where papers get filed up and each day in and out you just sit down and do your job, here, everyday is a different day. That’s why I enjoy it so much. Work has become a part of my routine, but work in the restaurant can never be routine. You get all sorts of problems each day, and now that I’m thinking about it, we do get through it at the end of the day. Dealing with people means your people and communication skills should be very high. You can’t expect to serve food and be like a robot or zombie. Smiling is the key!

As I try my best to be gullible and flexible, I must admit that sometimes it does gets to me. as I try to show my best to be helpful, sometimes, it does backfire from you. people see that you work hard and may it be unconscious or consciously they tend to take advantage. They ask you to do the smallest things. Things you know they could do by themselves, things that you’re not even suppose to do but they should, but opt to just give me the task because they are lazy. When days like these come around, I just take a deep breath and say to myself, its another chance to show my willingness to learn and earn experience. I see these as opportunity to showcase my skills more than seeing it as taking advantage. One incident though, had my laughing and crying at the same time. As I believe that I had made my mark on being reliable, and just go for anything that’s been thrown at me, one day, my Executive Chef called up the kitchen. I was thinking to myself, alright, another problem, another problem to solve. He asked me if I am able to help him and without hesitation I said yes. So he told me to follow him and I was startled when he got rubber gloves and a plunger, I followed him to the second floor ladies and bathroom and as we were getting near there, it dawned to me what task I was about to perform. Yep, you guessed it. The toilet was clogged and they entrusted me unclog it. He left me with a smile and an out of order sign to put on the door so that people would not enter as I work on the toilet. All I said to myself is that, Chef owes me one big time! I unclogged that toilet like there’s no tomorrow and I’m sure that night; I was the best toilet unclogger in the world. Now, I have a real story to tell.

 

Everyone has to start somewhere and for me as a newbie in the industry, i start from the bottom. I accepted that fact and I am fine with because that’s how it really goes. You can’t expect to just come in and be the manager just like that. I am saying this because, as I get to hang out with my fellow Benildeans, all I hear from them is complain, complain, and complain. They complain they are being treated not fairly, being yelled at, not being pampered, and hates on how low they are on the organizational chart. I try to explain to them that that’s how it is suppose to be, but I believe that they have been pampered so much in the Philippines and in CSB that they have gotten used to it. If they’re not complaining on how ugly their uniforms are, they’re complaining about how low their paychecks are. There’s always a reason to complain about, but what they don’t see is that there is also always a reason to smile and be cheerful about. Maybe it’s just that me and my fellow Practicumers are on a different page. i agree their paychecks are lower than the others, even mine is low but I don’t complain much about it. What cheers me up is that, I am not here for money, I am here for experience. And plus, the money we are earning here in dollars every two weeks would take 2 months to earn in the Philippines! Now, tell me, how could you complain about that? People.. I guess it’s just human of us to be never satisfied and to always want something more.

 

I believe that my roommate and I are on the same page on this, he shares the same ideology as I do. And as we hear people complain endlessly on how much they hate this place and would be rather be back home, what they failed to see is that as they complain, their Supervisors complain about them. Funny if you think about it

Rajino Emmanuel F. Santos HH3

BS-HRIM 10757643

 

3rd month, February 15, 2011- March 15, 2011

 

 

March they say would be the busiest month of the year. Even busier than the months of November (Thanks Giving), December (Christmas season) and February (Valentines). This is so because march in the United States is spring break for the college students and semestral break for the high school and middle school students. Parents take advantage of this time to be with their family especially those with children in their college years. Unlike the Philippines, college or university here are a little different. Students go away and live on college dorms in what ever state they get into. Its Either from a different state or just a community college, which means most of the time they will be away from their parents. The Gasparilla Inn and Club targets these

kinds of guests and try to lure them to spend the whole spring break on the island. They florida is the sunshine state because it is not as cold during winter season and the weather is perfect if you want to hit the beach during the whole month of March.

 

As we hit late February and early March, I start to feel the pace going up. The island is very small and at this period it is crowded. What used to be eight hour shifts are now becoming twelve hour shifts because of the volume of people eating and dining at the Pink Elephant Restaurant. At first it was hard because I wasn’t used to doing so many people and running around like crazy, but after a while I got a feel and groove to it that I’m becoming used to it. In comparison, the numbers we were doing before March on average is like eighty to ninety people for lunch and about one hundred twenty for dinner. Now that the season kicks in, we were doing one hundred eighty for lunches and about two hundred fifty to three hundred a night. That’s how drastic the change is. Of course, no one is complaining. The restaurant is earning, business is good and our paychecks are higher. During this period, I got a new gig for earning extra cash. I sideline as a bar back to the bartender. Every Friday, I would stay an extra five hours to help the bartender on late hours. At the end of the day, the bartender tips me for helping. I usually get eighty to a hundred dollars as tip. That extra cash I get helps me a lot. I usually use it for my groceries and what not. As a bar back, I am responsible to refill the stocks of beer bottles, draft beers and wines. I clear the bar tables when people are done drinking, run the dirty bar glasses in the dishwashing machine, polish them and stock them again for reuse. It’s a tiring job but it’s a win-win situation. I get to help the Bartender, I get more hours, and I get tipped out. Id rather be bar backing on a Friday night than to sit on my room doing nothing and not be productive.

 

Since I’ve been here for over three months now, I have gotten the chance to be close with my work buddies. Sometimes on our free time we play basketball together, hit the gym, play pool or billiards in the recreational room or maybe even go to the beach. As my relationships with my workmates are getting better day by day, the place where I work, the Pink Elephant is now slowly becoming my second home. I feel more at ease with my work than in any other place on the island. It gets my mind off things. With everyone around me talking about their problems, work has become my escape.

 

Now that I am about to finish my paper, which is the last paper ill ever do as a student of Saint Benilde, it got me reflecting on things and got me thinking. As I write down these words, finishing this paper is more than just finishing my paper. It is years of hard work, ups and downs, highs and lows of college life. As I slowly fill this page with words, at the same time I slowly close the chapter in my life which was college. Things are now coming back to me. I can still remember my first day in college as a freshman. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that at the end of my college life, I would be ending up here in Florida, USA. I’ve been through so much in those four years in college. In those four years, friendships have been built that would last forever, learned a lot of lessons and not just lessons in classes but lessons you don’t learn

inside the class. During those for years, friendships and relationships are tested as well, fights, heartaches and disappointments, Parties, road trips, sleepovers, never ending stories and gossips, it’s what spices up things up a bit. It’s all part of the college life in which without, we can never really say we experience college. Imagine if only the walls in the Halls of AKIC can talk, I’m sure it has heard many stories, seen many moments unfold and it probably knows every little secret from everyone, funny if you think about it. I feel sad as I think about those halls, as I won’t be walking on it anymore, not walking to class and just simply hanging on the hallways waiting for the bell. These might be small things, but small things matter, and this is what I will miss the most in college.

 

It is true what they say how college can shape a man. How it can change a man and how it can make ones character stronger. College is a period where we are all tested and it is only when we make it through that we see that it’s all a big exam, a big game, a big show and we are the main players, actors and actresses. It prepares us for a much bigger challenge, a broader and larger one in fact. College they say is the battle; but more than that, it prepares us for a bigger battle which is life. So with that, I would like to thank College of St. Benilde as whole from each and every professor who has decided to dedicate their lives to teaching, sharing and educating the youth to the administrative staff and personnel of the school for without, the College of Saint Benilde wouldn’t be as much fun, exciting and educating as it is. Congratulations to those who made it, who will make it and those who had made it. I am proud to be a Benildean and I am sure each and every alumnus feels the same. Hail Hail Alma Mater! Hail St. La Salle, Hail St. Benilde!

 

i love you mom and dad:)

see you soon! :D