Giving Back and Paying Forward

Yesterday, I honored my mom, by presenting a scholarship in her name to a graduating senior whose future does not include a four-year college program.??Not all high school graduates fit that mold, and it’s time we begin to give back and pay forward by realizing where and how we can make a positive impact and best prepare the next generation in their quest for success.

At this time last week, I was receiving my M.S. degree from USC’s Bovard College of Hospitality and Tourism Management.??A four-year program, and a master’s degree was my dream.??I’m also an entrepreneur who operates a full-service meeting planning agency while caring for my 94-year-old mother.??Being an entrepreneur has given me a deep sense of accomplishment and the opportunity to rely on the skills and experiences I gathered as a meeting professional in the corporate world.??It’s opened my eyes to possibilities never imagined, and for me, that meant returning to school, meeting cohorts who had their own dreams and visions, and being challenged to embrace the future with new concepts, theories, and technology.???

I grew up in a household of two schoolteachers, so being a life-long learner is not a new concept.??Every summer I was expected to pick a topic and research it over vacation.??My parents believed that learning didn’t stop in June, July, and August.??Mom was a high school business teacher, and just about every situation afforded an opportunity for learning.??By the time I was 8-years old I could type and reconcile the household checking account.??So, when I applied for, and was admitted to USC’s Bovard College, no one was happier or had higher expectations, than her.??

During the first term, one of my professors introduced the idea of corporate social responsibility and assigned us to research how different hospitality organizations respond to this call.??Some create ways to enrich their community and others develop green initiatives within the hotel, to make the property as organic as possible.??Our professor challenged us to think about how we would create a socially responsible program in our own organization, either current or future.??That’s what great educators do, they force you to focus and see a bolder future than we have ever contemplated.

The wheels began to turn.??Over the winter, as it became apparent that the hospitality industry was emerging from the pandemic, I began thinking about how to develop a program that would serve as a building block and become a viable investment for a member of the next generation.???

Yesterday, I presented a check to a graduating senior from the high school where my mother had been a member of the faculty, teaching commercial business in the 1950’s and 60’s.??When she began her teaching career, it was in this very rural school district in southern Ohio.??She had grown up in the community and knew all the families, so she felt a connection, as well as a responsibility to her profession.??It was and still is, a farming community, and for many of her students, going on to college seemed impractical and too far-fetched to consider.??She always stressed that education doesn’t necessarily come in the form of bricks and mortar, sometimes it means a skill or a trade.

Education should fit into the big picture of what one aspires to do so that each one of us possesses the ability to keep and sustain ourselves and become a contributing member of our own community.???It is that sense of belonging and being a part of something bigger that led me to the University of Southern California, to seek and discover knowledge that I knew existed, and wanted to learn, so that I could grow a sustainable company.??I was encouraged in my journey by professors who believe their students are the next generation of leaders within the hospitality industry.

So, for the first time, but not the last, I had the privilege of presenting the Leona Simpson Fulks Entrepreneurial Scholarship to a young graduate, to use for her continuing education, in the pursuit of new skills and knowledge that will enrich and sustain the future she hopes to build.??That student doesn’t see college in her future, but she does envision perfecting a trade and eventually running and managing her own business.??Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “do not go where the path will lead you, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”.??Here’s to creating new trails that traverse the goals we dream of achieving.??