friday, October 17, 2003
news
the university daily kansan b
Student's love of hospitality leads toward dream job
By Zack Hemenway
zhenmenway@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Every face in the crowd and every name in the phone book has a story behind it. Every week, Kansan staff writer Zack Hemenway tells the story of a randomly selected KU student.
A hotel lobby usually consists of a front desk, a few couches and potted plants. But when Brian Jordan walks in, he sees much more.
"There are all these these people who are there to open their arms and say, 'Is there anything I can do for you?'" he said. "I've loved the hotel environment since I was a little kid."
Jordan, St. Louis senior, has gravitated toward his childhood love. He has worked in hotels since seventh grade, holding a variety of jobs. Jordan said his job diversity was a key step in pursuit of his goal, to own or manage an entire hotel.
"I have to learn every aspect that I can of the hotel industry," he said.
Brian Jordan, St. Louis senior, cleaned up banquet tables last night. As a manager of the Holiday Inn banquet hall, he said he loved the fast pace the job sometimes requires. "They call me squirrel because I walk fast wherever I go," Jordan said.
Jordan works as a banquet manager at the Holiday Inn. 200
McDonald Drive. He is one of four managers in charge of planning projects in the hotel's banquet hall, working with customers on wedding receptions and other events.
Jordan said working with customers on these events was the most fulfilling part of his job.
"If I can make that day perfect for them, there's nothing better than that," he said.
Customer service is almost a mantra for Jordan, who said he tried to help make sure each hotel guest leaves satisfied.
Jordan inherited this attention to others' happiness from his father, who works as director of customer service for the Union Pacific Railroad in St. Louis.
Pacific Railroad is not here. "I get a lot of my work ethic from him," he said. "He taught me to never stop working on the concerns of customers."
The transient nature of hotel visitors makes it hard to establish individual relationships, but Jordan said he tried to make each guest feel unique and important.
"Sincerity is the most important thing in my business," he said. "If you're not being sincere, you're basically lying."
Despite this idealistic nature, Jordan has time for fun once he's off the clock. He said the late hours and constant business led to stress-releasing post-work activities with his friends and co-workers.
workers.
"If you're in the hotel business,
you either drink, or you drink a lot."
he said with a laugh.
Jordan sometimes daydreams of another career. He plays guitar and is the lead singer for his band, Full Tilt.
Courtney Kuhlen/Kansan
Jordan said that singing with his band gave him a feeling he couldn't get helping a customer.
"There is no better rush than to be up on stage," he said. "You feel the music yourself and see other people feeling the same thing. The whole world closes off."
Jordan began playing guitar about the same time he started working at hotels, and he speaks passionately about both his music and his job. He begins nearly every sentence with "Oh, god," searching for the proper words to convey his enthusiasm.
"Oh, god," he said, trying to decide what his favorite part of
his job was. "That's a tough question."
When he graduates in May, Jordan will look for a full-time job catering to guests' needs in a hotel or on a cruise ship. But he said
that someday,he'd like to get some of that treatment for himself.
"My dream is to own a hotel somewhere like Cabo San Lucas," Jordan said. "At
the end of my day. I can go out on the beach, pop open a Corona and watch the sun set."
- Edited by Ashley Marriott
JAYWALK:
Provides safety
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
decrease in total campus crimes from 1997 to 2002.
Although aggravated assaults on campus rose from one in 2001 to two in 2002, the number is down from the 13 aggravated assaults that occurred on campus in 1997.
There were four fondlings in 2002. un from one in 2001.
Bailey credited the hard work of the police department for the decline in crime, as well as programs like SafeRide and JayWalk.
Students can call JawWalk at 864-3222 Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Poe said JayWalk has 40 volunteers on call to walk students and faculty home.
LIVING: Themed environment brings students together to live, study, bond
ously.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
Green lives on the sixth floor of Oliver with the students and serves as a resource and a role model. Green said he knew his experience at the Freshman Summer Institute a year ago would help him with his new job
Green doesn't tarn a salary for the program, but the University does cover his housing expenses. He heard about the opportunity through his academic advisor and jumped at the opportunity to guide freshmen through their first year at the University.
"I benefited from FSI, so it's something I was familiar with," Green said.
He said being in Oliver made the experience even better.
"We're a tight-knit family." Green said.
He explained that because Oliver was isolated from the residence halls on Daisy Hill, students were forced to build relationships with each other.
"We've been fortunate," Green said. "We've got good students not only in our TLC, but in the whole hall."
Besides attending the seminar, Green lives with the students so he can immediately field any questions they have and connect them with the activities or offices they need.
Edited JJ Hensley
they need. Green said he would love to be a peer educator for another group of students next year.
"You get to see the impact you have," Green said. "You directly affect their transition into college."
Green said it was most important to leave the freshmen with a sense of community away from
home.
"This is a special time and a special situation," Green said. "We all take part in the community."
As with any first-year program, the TLCs need to work out a few kinks.
Harness said because his TLC classes were assigned for him, he had some trouble scheduling his other classes.
"I wanted to take biology." Harness said. "But I couldn't because the only open section was during the sociology class."
He also had complaints about how engaging his classes were.
Harness advised future students to get a list of classes and times before they commit to the program, so they can work out scheduling conflicts ahead of time.
together seems reminiscent of some sort of academic summer camp, and Harness said he could tell some of the students were ready for a break from each other.
Living together, studying together and going to class
Becker's situation is a little different. She started the year out in Oliver with the rest of her TLC, but moved to McCollum because of a personal conflict. She still attends classes with the group, but misses out on the community feeling, she said.
Dixon said she was thinking about making the TLCs non-residential next year, meaning classes would still be the same, but students could live anywhere they wanted, even off campus.
Becker said she understood why that might be a more attractive option, but she thought it defeated the whole point of the program.
"I can't just walk down the hall
and ask someone for help with something." Becker said.
something, like the floor she moved onto in McCollum is home to another TLC group, but changing her entire schedule after the semester had already started would have been a hassle, Becker said.
Green said the biggest problem he noticed was adjusting to the time management necessary to succeed in college. He said some students had overloaded their schedules. Green said there haven't been any problems adjusting to the social life.
This semester's students have the option of continuing their TLCs, but without the seminar next semester.
next semester.
Harness said the group had to make that decision the same way they do everything else — together
— Edited by Ashley Marriott
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