2019 #AlwaysThere Campaign Update: $6,100 of $200,000 raised.
As told by Riley, an 11th grader at Ballou High School.
I’m in the hospitality academy at Ballou, so I had visited hotels before. But, when we walked into The Conrad, it was the nicest one I’d seen. You see, my name is Riley. I’m a Lead Tutor, a member of Reach’s Leadership Council, a Reach Fellow, and – since a few weeks ago – a published author. And, I know that – when I grow up – I want to work in hospitality.
When we arrived at The Conrad, Mr. Jamaal, the hotel manager, gave us a tour of the whole place. We saw the conference spaces, the restaurant, a couple rooms, and even the operations center where hotel guests never get to go. It takes a lot of people to make a hotel run. I want to be one of those people.
After the tour, we met with executives from Hilton, that’s the company that runs The Conrad. We practiced talking about ourselves in a professional setting. And, we learned how to introduce ourselves to new people. Honestly, I just wanted them to hire me, but I was pretty sure I shouldn’t just ask for that.
But, one of the executives, Mr. Martin, helped me do it. So, when I introduced myself to the room, I ended with, “I’m interested in working in hospitality, so if any of you know of internship opportunities, please let me know.” I was so glad I got the chance to be in that room, to have that experience, and to meet those people. And, I know it happened because of Ms. Leslie.
Ms. Leslie is a Reach board member. She works at Hilton. She helped set up the event so all of us could build our professional networking and communications skills. And, after the event, she said that Mr. Jamaal might be open to having a few of us come back to shadow some members of his team for a day. Maybe that could lead to an internship. And then, who knows?
For Ms. Leslie, this might have just been a day at her job. But, for me, it was a step toward my future. That’s why I’m thankful that Ms. Leslie is #AlwaysThere for Reach.
All this month, we will be sharing stories about members of the Reach community that are #AlwaysThere for the organization and those we serve. Leslie Adler has been a Reach board member for eight years. She’s thrilled that, through The Reach Fellowship, she has found ways to connect the job she loves to the organization she loves. Riley is an 11th grader at Ballou Senior High. One day, she hopes to be one of Leslie’s colleagues.
Make a gift here to support our 2020 #AlwaysThere campaign. Follow the campaign at www.reachincorporated.org/alwaysthere.