2016 Essay Competition - View all entries

The Hospitality Sector

Mischa Josephs - Cape Town, South Africa

I do not know exactly which job I want to end up in but I definitely know I would love a career in the Hospitality sector. I really want to study Hospitality Management; from Food and Beverage to managing online reviews and even learning about the World of Resorts. I am a very ambitious lady and do not like to be held down and become stagnant therefore I feel Hospitality is the perfect career path for me.

My dad is the chef in the house and ever since I was a little girl I would sit in the kitchen and watch him work his magic and being little Miss inquisitive I would always ask questions about everything thing he had done such as,"what's that?, why you putting that in?, etc". There were times where he would ask me to help him with small things like whisking the eggs or stirring the pot and I would gladly help because that was my opportunity to ask all the questions I wanted. It was these events that made me realize how much I enjoy cooking and baking as well as pleasing people with good food and satisfying their taste buds; this is where my inspiration for this field began.

When I was in school and my friends would come over it was like the best opportunity for me to show off my skills as a host and chef in the making, I loved the comments of "oh my goodness, this is the best sandwich ever" or when someone doesn't usually eat a particular thing but when I made it they loved it. I had this one friend who was not the biggest fan of any kind of cake; pancakes, cupcakes, etc, but used to request for me to make them. I also had one or two friends who never ate tomatoes or eggs and I always compromised to make a meal specially to suit them.

I worked in a retail store for about three years and truly enjoyed attending to clients needs, sometimes the most impossible clients are the best part of the day, they make sure you're on your toes and the satisfaction of seeing them leave the store with a smile on their face because you made their day by finding the perfect pair of jeans was the best feeling ever. However I want it on a bigger scale, where I have even more of a challenge and bigger responsibilities therefore after speaking to a few friends who went into the hospitality field and learning of their experiences I just knew that it was definitely the career path for me.

I was asked once what do I hope to accomplish in this career and my answer was; I would rather own a cute coffee shop than work in a five star restaurant, but upon saying that I read an article about a Chef who is doing a tour, imagine that, touring the world and doing something you love all at the same time. If I had the opportunity to do that, I would grab the it with both hands.

I have so much more to learn, I want to perfect this craft, some people are born to be painters or sportsmen but they need practice to be great and that's what I want, I want to learn to be great. I don't only want to know how to make food for friends and family, I want to appeal to all peoples' taste buds, if I have a restaurant in the middle of the woods I want people to drive out from the cities to taste my food and experience the best service possible, I want to be the best I can be, if not better.