This week, a very brave Vita Nova student allowed us to follow her around for an entire day so that we can show what a day is like as a student in Vita Nova. Liz Engrassia is a Senior graduating this May. She has just returned from a semester-long Disney Internship, and has signed up to be one of the students in Vita Nova Dinner Lab Spring 2016. Typically, most students have a very easy last semester with free electives and a part-time status, but Liz starts everyday with a full schedule of classes and goes to Vita Nova lab until later at night. She is an example of how hard-working and self-sacrificing our Vita Nova students are. Liz starts her day around 8:30am. She gets up to make herself breakfast and get her life in order before her first class at 10:10am. After a calm morning, Liz arrives to her first class. Her class is one of the many HRIM classes that a Vita Nova student is required to take. At 11:00am, class is over and Liz must rush to her next HRIM class that starts at 11:15. Accompanied by many students that also take Vita Nova lab, Liz learns about strategy in Hospitality until 12:05pm. From there, Liz has some down time to finish up homework, eat lunch, and prepare for her shift. At 2:45pm, Liz packs up her things, takes off her nail polish, and makes sure that her makeup and hair are presentable for lab. She walks to lab to change into her service uniform and attend pre-shift meeting by 3:30pm. At 3:30, the pre-shift meeting begins. Liz learns about all the guests that will be dining today, watches a presentation from the manager-of-the-day, listens to the Vita Nova Managers talk about important topics to note, and then shuffles into the dining room to set the tables. Until 5:00pm, Liz works fast and perfectly to create the Vita Nova dining room atmosphere that the lab demands. At 5:00pm, Liz goes with her fellow students to eat dinner prepared by a student sous chef-of-the-day. She has 30 minutes to eat before the first guest arrives. From 5:30pm until the last guest leaves the building, Liz works tirelessly to execute the 25 steps of service and the level of perfection fine dining requires. When the last guest leaves, it is time to take apart the tables, polish silverware, set up the lunch buffet for tomorrow, and attend a final meeting about the service given that night. By the time Liz leaves lab, it is late and she has been running around since 8:30am. The amount of effort our students put into the lab is incredible. The fact Liz spent her entire day in class just shows how much the students care about their program and school. So the next time that you see a Vita Nova student, remember that underneath their professional demeanor and big smile there is a college student who is working as hard as they possibly can. All in all, it's just another day in the life of living the Vita Nova.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
The StudentsThe students of the Hospitality Business Management program at the University of Delaware share their experiences at Vita Nova Archives
November 2020
|