Hotel Management is much vast than it looks, it is not only about cooking, but managing the operations, says Ayush

College is a place to make memories, a place where you learn the meaning of life, a place where you learn the meaning of friendship, and what not. I was always fascinated about my college life wondering how my college life would be. What all memories will I pack in my bag? What will I learn? The answers to all my questions were finally there. My school life was over and I was finally ready to embark on a new journey.

I was an average student in my school and had no idea what will I do for my higher studies until I came to know about Hotel Management. I always had my interest in cooking and as a commoner, I even thought that Hotel Management is all about cooking but all my myths were about to get clear. I searched a lot of colleges that offer Hotel Management courses and finally ended up joining Amrapali Institute of Hotel Management. I had many reasons to join this institute but the biggest of them is my mother, she was quite afraid of sending me away, as I had never stayed away from her. I too considered myself less confident to move out until I had gained more knowledge, a set of professional skills to be specific. I also didn’t force her much as Amrapali Institute of Hotel Management was ranked among the top 10 private institutes, so I quietly agreed to the same, I was unaware of what was coming to me.

It has been almost four years now since I first joined, but it still feels like yesterday. I vividly remember my first day as everything was supposed to be new for me. I left my house precisely at 8:15 am. My college was at a distance of half an hour from my home. On the way to the institute my mind was cooking thousands of thoughts like – am I too early, what if people judge me, what if I make no friends. I could not keep my calm until I reached my destination. I walked through the campus where I saw a group of people but could not gather the courage to go and talk to them. I felt very lonely at that moment but could not do anything about the same apart from waiting patiently, then after a while, we all were called for the orientation in the meeting hall as the session was about to start. I sat there looking at these new faces wondering what they all must be thinking, slowly the room started filling with people and one student sat next to me. He introduced himself and we slowly became friends. At that moment I realised that it is not that difficult to make friends. The session began and we started to know more about our institute and our faculty.

Then we all were introduced to our classmates and we walked around the campus so as to get acquainted with the institute.

The orientation programme went on for a week and by the time the session came to an end I got a thorough knowledge of how wide the concept of hospitality is and how many options are open for me. The Hotel Management course is much vast than it looks on paper, it is not only about cooking, it is about managing the operation, and it is about learning the concept of hospitality. My viewpoint towards hospitality changed completely, the boy that had no aim started developing his interest in learning what all hospitality has to offer.

My regular college life began and one could easily differentiate between students of hotel management and students of other courses as the grooming standards were way too high for us.

Our regular lectures started along with the practical sessions. I got hooked to classes as every day I had something new to learn. The lectures were very knowledgeable and interactive, and so were the practical sessions. Apart from this the online knowledge booster sessions related to the industry was a good add-on to our knowledge and was a good idea to engage students in something interesting especially during the Covid 19 lockdown phase.

I had always been introverting all my life but I was noticing a change in myself as I used to interact daily with my teachers which helped me to open up and speak freely. In the start, I used to get very nervous but all my batch mates were very supportive, which helped to bring out the best in me.

I love my institute as I get a new experience each day. One of the best things about my institute is the annual fest (Spandhan). Every year I wait in anticipation for this one day. The fest lasts for a day and I cannot keep my calm as I love the vibes that it brings along with its ‘altogether a different feeling’. I am in my final year and I am going to miss all the fun. I am going to cherish the memories forever that I am taking along and most importantly, I must say, ‘no matter how I was when I first came; I’ll be leaving as a better person.’ 

About the author

Ayush Latwal is a seventh-semester BHMCT student at Amrapali Group of Institutes.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha