About Me
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My name is Serina Severance and I am currently a graduating senior at San Diego State University, pursuing a degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management with an emphasis in meetings and events.
Most people have one place they call home, but I have two. I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, but I have also lived in a small town in New York. During my childhood, I moved back and forth between Japan and the United States which was difficult at the time, but has shaped me into the person that I am today. From a young age, I’ve experienced the sometimes confusing, at times challenging, often humorous, and distinctly beautiful life of growing up bicultural. I was given an opportunity that many people have never experienced.
Living in New York in a small town had its perks, but I wanted to experience living in a large city where no one knew me. So, I ended up on the other side of the country in San Diego, and it was the best decision I ever made. I knew I would be far from home and from my family and friends, but the thought of all the opportunities I had to meet new people, find potential employers, and experience new activities was extremely exciting.
I entered college thinking I wanted to pursue a degree in Business Management and continued for the first year and a half, until I realized there was a more fitting career for me. I remember seeing “Hospitality” from the drop down list of majors to choose from when I applied for colleges, and skipped over it every time not knowing what it was. My sophomore year of college was when I finally learned what a hospitality major entailed, and I became intrigued. I reached out to as many people as I could such as mutual friends, academic advisors, and research to try to find out more about the major and ultimately made the decision to switch my major. I found myself more immersed in class, unlike the times I felt myself dozing off during business lectures in a classroom of 500 students. I loved the fact that HTM classes were very hands-on and put me out of my comfort zone. The thought of having to do multiple internships, study abroad, and attend networking events scared me, but I knew that the experience was going to benefit me as a person.
My first internship was a great learning curve, where I worked as a front desk intern at the Sag Harbor Inn. I am currently starting an internship at the same hotel, experiencing a virtual internship to help the hotel gain better reputation through improving their marketing strategies. Although Covid-19 has interrupted our economy, technology is permitting us graduating seniors to continue to gain experiences virtually. My hopes are to help companies recover by taking advantage of all the knowledge I gained from my courses and experiences at SDSU, and to further accumulate my experience in the industry.
Most people have one place they call home, but I have two. I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, but I have also lived in a small town in New York. During my childhood, I moved back and forth between Japan and the United States which was difficult at the time, but has shaped me into the person that I am today. From a young age, I’ve experienced the sometimes confusing, at times challenging, often humorous, and distinctly beautiful life of growing up bicultural. I was given an opportunity that many people have never experienced.
Living in New York in a small town had its perks, but I wanted to experience living in a large city where no one knew me. So, I ended up on the other side of the country in San Diego, and it was the best decision I ever made. I knew I would be far from home and from my family and friends, but the thought of all the opportunities I had to meet new people, find potential employers, and experience new activities was extremely exciting.
I entered college thinking I wanted to pursue a degree in Business Management and continued for the first year and a half, until I realized there was a more fitting career for me. I remember seeing “Hospitality” from the drop down list of majors to choose from when I applied for colleges, and skipped over it every time not knowing what it was. My sophomore year of college was when I finally learned what a hospitality major entailed, and I became intrigued. I reached out to as many people as I could such as mutual friends, academic advisors, and research to try to find out more about the major and ultimately made the decision to switch my major. I found myself more immersed in class, unlike the times I felt myself dozing off during business lectures in a classroom of 500 students. I loved the fact that HTM classes were very hands-on and put me out of my comfort zone. The thought of having to do multiple internships, study abroad, and attend networking events scared me, but I knew that the experience was going to benefit me as a person.
My first internship was a great learning curve, where I worked as a front desk intern at the Sag Harbor Inn. I am currently starting an internship at the same hotel, experiencing a virtual internship to help the hotel gain better reputation through improving their marketing strategies. Although Covid-19 has interrupted our economy, technology is permitting us graduating seniors to continue to gain experiences virtually. My hopes are to help companies recover by taking advantage of all the knowledge I gained from my courses and experiences at SDSU, and to further accumulate my experience in the industry.
My Leadership Journey
Being a leader is not something that you can learn to do overnight. It takes time, and we learn through experiences in which we have dealt with all different types of people in many different situations. It’s also about learning about ourselves, our weaknesses as well as our strengths. Once we assess ourselves under a microscope while being pushed outside of our comfort zones, we learn more about ourselves as a leader, and as a person.
When it comes to leadership, I believe it is something we learn to become rather than being something we are born with, which is why the Great Man Theory is flawed in my personal opinion. Everyone has the capability to better themselves, as long as they want to (and they should). My idea of a leader is a person who is passionate about what they do, is good at communicating with others, values relationships, and respects others, among many other important values. I think that the idea of being a leader is invigorating, knowing that you can teach and lead others through your own knowledge and past experiences. As kids, we often didn’t listen to our parents when they said things like, “Make sure you put on sunscreen or you’ll get sunburnt,” and we would come home as red as a tomato and later be in agony. Sometimes we need to go through the motions and experience things ourselves in order to learn a lesson. I believe that leadership is similar in the way that we learn from our experiences and better ourselves from them.
My first memorable experience of leadership was in high school, when I became the captain of the varsity volleyball team. I never imagined myself being the captain of a team, because I was so focused on improving myself. However, I realized that when I was voted by the majority of the team, I possessed more leadership skills than I ever knew. I created relationships with each team member and found different ways the team could improve as a whole. I felt that I was very approachable on and off the court, which is what I look for in a leader. Many of my younger teammates looked up to me as their role model. I gained confidence by working with my coach to assess each team player’s strengths and weaknesses in order to have the best lineups and plays to take the team to states. Although I can get very competitive, it wasn’t all about competition for me. It was about team bonding, enjoying ourselves, and if we were to win championships, that was a plus. Being the captain of the team had taught me that I had the potential to be a leader in the future because I possessed networking skills as well as the ability to teach and mentor.
One of the first things I wanted to do when I got to college was to join the club volleyball team. I was excited to join due to my past experience and thought I could see myself playing for the next four years of school, until I realized that everyone else was much better than I was. Being a great player at a small high school meant that I was an average player at a huge college. My confidence had gone down tremendously, and I decided to focus on my academics instead. I felt that my confidence went down in a lot of other areas, such as academics, relationships, etc. I rarely ever spoke up during discussions in class and never had the courage to try and talk to my classmates to befriend them, so at times I felt like an outcast in my classes.
However, our HTM program is designed to teach students how to work with others, which is an essential skill in the hospitality industry. I remember doing a class activity in Professor Dillette’s class, where we had to speak to the person next to us for 3 minutes without them giving any verbal or nonverbal cues to the speaker. I remember being so nervous, I didn’t know how I was going to continue the next 3 years being put outside of my comfort zone. I may not have known how, but I knew I was going to do it. I felt motivated to try and put myself out there, and motivation is the key when it comes to leadership, because it has to come from within. From conquering the class activity, I began a great friendship with my classmate that has lasted throughout the years ever since that day. With my new HTM best friend, we went to networking events together, worked on projects together, and developed a relationship outside of the academic environment. I slowly grew back the confidence I needed in order to improve my inner self. With each activity, networking event, and presentation, I became more confident and outspoken. The anxiety I get from public speaking has not gone away completely and may never will, but I learned how to deal with that feeling and got familiar with what I need in order to succeed. Being forced to take a speech class my first year of college sounded like a pure nightmare to me, but I got through it and I came out of that classroom a better speaker than when I first walked in. I realized that I became the person who would help others calm down and gain confidence in themselves before giving presentations, when in the past, I was the one who needed help to calm down.
From my experience, I have learned that motivating ourselves to conquer our fears is the greatest way to gain important leadership skills. Once we are able to motivate ourselves, we can inspire others to also become self-motivated and strive to improve their skills. Although it is difficult and uncomfortable to be in unfamiliar situations, it opens our eyes to what we are capable of. We may make mistakes along the way, but the idea behind it is that you are constantly evaluating yourself and making improvements. There really isn’t a finish line, so we can all keep improving to be the best leader we can be.
When it comes to leadership, I believe it is something we learn to become rather than being something we are born with, which is why the Great Man Theory is flawed in my personal opinion. Everyone has the capability to better themselves, as long as they want to (and they should). My idea of a leader is a person who is passionate about what they do, is good at communicating with others, values relationships, and respects others, among many other important values. I think that the idea of being a leader is invigorating, knowing that you can teach and lead others through your own knowledge and past experiences. As kids, we often didn’t listen to our parents when they said things like, “Make sure you put on sunscreen or you’ll get sunburnt,” and we would come home as red as a tomato and later be in agony. Sometimes we need to go through the motions and experience things ourselves in order to learn a lesson. I believe that leadership is similar in the way that we learn from our experiences and better ourselves from them.
My first memorable experience of leadership was in high school, when I became the captain of the varsity volleyball team. I never imagined myself being the captain of a team, because I was so focused on improving myself. However, I realized that when I was voted by the majority of the team, I possessed more leadership skills than I ever knew. I created relationships with each team member and found different ways the team could improve as a whole. I felt that I was very approachable on and off the court, which is what I look for in a leader. Many of my younger teammates looked up to me as their role model. I gained confidence by working with my coach to assess each team player’s strengths and weaknesses in order to have the best lineups and plays to take the team to states. Although I can get very competitive, it wasn’t all about competition for me. It was about team bonding, enjoying ourselves, and if we were to win championships, that was a plus. Being the captain of the team had taught me that I had the potential to be a leader in the future because I possessed networking skills as well as the ability to teach and mentor.
One of the first things I wanted to do when I got to college was to join the club volleyball team. I was excited to join due to my past experience and thought I could see myself playing for the next four years of school, until I realized that everyone else was much better than I was. Being a great player at a small high school meant that I was an average player at a huge college. My confidence had gone down tremendously, and I decided to focus on my academics instead. I felt that my confidence went down in a lot of other areas, such as academics, relationships, etc. I rarely ever spoke up during discussions in class and never had the courage to try and talk to my classmates to befriend them, so at times I felt like an outcast in my classes.
However, our HTM program is designed to teach students how to work with others, which is an essential skill in the hospitality industry. I remember doing a class activity in Professor Dillette’s class, where we had to speak to the person next to us for 3 minutes without them giving any verbal or nonverbal cues to the speaker. I remember being so nervous, I didn’t know how I was going to continue the next 3 years being put outside of my comfort zone. I may not have known how, but I knew I was going to do it. I felt motivated to try and put myself out there, and motivation is the key when it comes to leadership, because it has to come from within. From conquering the class activity, I began a great friendship with my classmate that has lasted throughout the years ever since that day. With my new HTM best friend, we went to networking events together, worked on projects together, and developed a relationship outside of the academic environment. I slowly grew back the confidence I needed in order to improve my inner self. With each activity, networking event, and presentation, I became more confident and outspoken. The anxiety I get from public speaking has not gone away completely and may never will, but I learned how to deal with that feeling and got familiar with what I need in order to succeed. Being forced to take a speech class my first year of college sounded like a pure nightmare to me, but I got through it and I came out of that classroom a better speaker than when I first walked in. I realized that I became the person who would help others calm down and gain confidence in themselves before giving presentations, when in the past, I was the one who needed help to calm down.
From my experience, I have learned that motivating ourselves to conquer our fears is the greatest way to gain important leadership skills. Once we are able to motivate ourselves, we can inspire others to also become self-motivated and strive to improve their skills. Although it is difficult and uncomfortable to be in unfamiliar situations, it opens our eyes to what we are capable of. We may make mistakes along the way, but the idea behind it is that you are constantly evaluating yourself and making improvements. There really isn’t a finish line, so we can all keep improving to be the best leader we can be.
Summary of Highlights
Throughout my experiences while at SDSU, I have transitioned into a better leader by overcoming my fears and putting myself in uncomfortable situations. By doing so, I have learned a lot about myself and the areas in which I need to improve. I also learned about some of the strengths that I didn’t know I had. In my portfolio, there are 6 tabs from the drop down list that will allow you to navigate through my experiences, as an HTM student. Each tab will represent a reflection of the greatest takeaways that have helped me develop my leadership skills.
1) Leadership Coursework: This section portrays the greatest takeaways from my coursework. I briefly speak about two projects where I worked with other classmates and how I learned more about myself being in a group setting.
2) Work Experience: This section is dedicated to the jobs that helped me accumulate experience in the industry and helped me with my career direction. The job I chose to write about was a hotel internship I did, which turned out to be a surprisingly positive experience for me. I learned how to deal with people in situations that repeatedly occurred.
3) Industry Connection: This section represents the relationship that I built in the hospitality industry through a school assignment and how an opportunity arose unexpectedly.
4) Leading in Action: Dedicated to my experience as a leader and what I have learned from my mentorship experience with a fellow SDSU student
5) Promising Pitfalls: Lessons I have learned from my experiences and what I would have done differently
6) Haiku: My experience at SDSU in a form of a short Japanese poem
To navigate, scroll over to the “Portfolio” tab, and use the drop down menu to read about each experience and learn more about my path to leadership.
1) Leadership Coursework: This section portrays the greatest takeaways from my coursework. I briefly speak about two projects where I worked with other classmates and how I learned more about myself being in a group setting.
2) Work Experience: This section is dedicated to the jobs that helped me accumulate experience in the industry and helped me with my career direction. The job I chose to write about was a hotel internship I did, which turned out to be a surprisingly positive experience for me. I learned how to deal with people in situations that repeatedly occurred.
3) Industry Connection: This section represents the relationship that I built in the hospitality industry through a school assignment and how an opportunity arose unexpectedly.
4) Leading in Action: Dedicated to my experience as a leader and what I have learned from my mentorship experience with a fellow SDSU student
5) Promising Pitfalls: Lessons I have learned from my experiences and what I would have done differently
6) Haiku: My experience at SDSU in a form of a short Japanese poem
To navigate, scroll over to the “Portfolio” tab, and use the drop down menu to read about each experience and learn more about my path to leadership.