Yee Tran shares his story to help students believe that their hard work in school will pay off. “As a graduate of the MBA – Hospitality program at Johnson & Wales College of Professional Studies, I recognize now that knowledge is power. We will need more educated people in this country to fight against acts of injustice and unethical business practices. Our futures — and the future of the country — will be determined by where we start today.”
MILESTONE – OVERCOMING HIS MISTRUST OF EDUCATION
I did not always trust that education was necessary to make a good life. A shy child when, at 17, I immigrated to the United States from Vietnam, English became my second language. As a first-generation student, no one in my immediate family modeled how education could be a powerful pathway to career success. I did not know how to unlock the door to my future.
My milestone journey started while I worked as a cook at a nursing home. Some people love to cook, and they make cooking their career. I had learned to cook at home, so cooking was just something I could do. I did not think much about being promoted to a manager or becoming a chef. I just rolled with the job — went to work, got the money and went home.
Although it was rare to advance in this job, my manager discouraged me from getting a bachelor’s degree. He wanted me to stay on the job and told me that I just needed experience to become a manager or a chef. At first it made sense to me, ‘If I have a college education but don’t know how to cook, how can I become a chef, right?’
But being a chef is more than just being able to cook. Professional chefs need to know about budgeting and have management skills. A chef has to know how to hire people and how to lead the team. This manager was not telling me the whole truth.
When management changed at the nursing home and the job became more stressful, I realized it was time for me to make a change. I could not change the work — I had to change myself.
MILESTONE – INSPIRATION AND ACCEPTANCE
I enrolled in an undergraduate program close to home — I majored in hospitality because I love to travel. My professor and head of the hospitality program, Dr. Se Eun Lee, shared with me how education had changed her life. She told me she had seen education help other people advance in their careers and make better lives.
I did not accept at first what my professor told me about education. But in class, I could feel my knowledge expanding and how I was growing as a person. The budgeting class opened my eyes to how I had been throwing my money ‘out the window’ and how budgeting would improve my life and support my love of travelling. Class by class, I felt like I was ‘climbing the stairs’ toward becoming a knowledgeable person.
Education also taught me about diversity, which helped me understand how cultural background affects the way people think and act. I became more accepting about why people do what they do — and the effect my manager had by discouraging me from advancing my life through education.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, everyone at my school had to go online. I was convinced that I could not learn remotely. Day by day, I recognized that online education is really convenient. I began trusting education and wanted to go higher, so I looked at schools that offered online master’s degrees in hospitality.
MILESTONE – ENROLLING IN THE MBA – HOSPITALITY AT JWU CPS
Dr. Lee and a manager at work, who was a JWU graduate, told me about JWU’s online hospitality program. I was familiar with JWU’s reputation as a culinary school and felt that their hospitality program would be of equal quality.
Most other schools I contacted were not overly helpful. Johnson & Wales was different. I chose JWU because the CPS admissions associate followed up after I requested information and was willing to answer all of my questions. Once I started classes, Tracie Souza was assigned as my student advisor. Tracie has been extremely helpful to me throughout my master’s program.
Hospitality is not only about hotel management and travel. The MBA – Hospitality degree is a broad program with courses that apply to multiple careers. As graduates of the program, we can work in hotels, as financial counselors, in banks and accounting positions or as event managers. I can combine my background in hospitality with business management to be an executive assistant or executive administration professional.
Online Learning at JWU CPS
Each of my professors had a different teaching style, so every seven weeks, I had to adapt to a new style of delivery and a separate way in which the class is organized.
Regularly adapting my learning style sometimes felt difficult – especially during my first year in the program. However, constantly adapting to new class environments and learning styles taught me to be more flexible and sharpened my ability to think critically. In business, we have to adapt to new things every day.
Education teaches us to become ethical business leaders.
Important to me, the MBA program taught us ethical business practices. I shared in one class certain unethical practices that hotels sometimes do to generate income — like raising prices on a day when freezing temperatures or snowfall impedes travel and people need a place to stay.
The MBA program also taught us to go beyond being managers to become leaders. By learning to become better communicators with our employees, we will treat employees fairly and run businesses ethically.
Employment Milestones
I was building experience in the hospitality industry, beginning as a night auditor / desk receptionist in an airport Inn and advancing into positions at high-end lodgings, including the Westin hotel and the W-Bellevue, a luxury hotel. Working as a reservation coordinator at Four Seasons as I entered the MBA – Hospitality program, I accepted a new business position as a Branch Coordinator at Scougal Rubber.
By applying skills learned in the MBA program — procurement and vendor management, accounting and financial management, human resources, supply management and office administration — I learned to manage a business and become a training manager.
In August 2023, I accepted a management position at NEXUS Seattle. The business knowledge I gained in the MBA program — and the confidence education gave me — helped me get hired. I manage building services and also provide executive assistance to the president and all managers at my company. Every day I feel happy because I can use my critical thinking and problem-solving skills to excel in my work.
MILESTONE – ADAPTING TO BALANCE SCHOOL, WORK AND LIFE
Making it through the challenging MBA program requires time management skills. While I was learning business management in the MBA program, I was also responsible to be a manager at work. If I did not manage my time well, then I could fall behind in the program.
To meet Sunday’s deadline for submission of assignments, I made Saturday my deadline. That way I could take a much-needed break on Sunday, to refresh my body and mind, and start anew on Monday.
When under pressure, I tried my best to adapt to the situation and find solutions to what was challenging me. If I had tried my best and pushed past my limit — it was time to ask for help. When overwhelmed, we can reach out to our professors, our advisors, our classmates and to the writing center. Sometimes I would even reach out to my manager at work and ask if I could have a day off to devote to my schoolwork.
I advise students starting the program to do your best to go to keep going. Sometimes, I felt that I could not get through the program and wanted to let go. But if I gave up in the middle of the program, I would have felt like I had failed to give my best effort.
So, do not give up, even when going forward seems too hard. Think carefully about what you can do to get through, and who you can ask for help. Maybe it is time to take a break and relax. Go out, drink a beer, hang out with a friend, and then come back with your mind refreshed. You will find you can do it.
MILESTONE – COMPLETING AND CONTINUING MY EDUCATION
School brought both tears and happiness.
Earning the MBA was not easy for me. My experience in JWU’s MBA – Hospitality program was both stressful and fun. Looking back, it sometimes felt like a comedy. One moment I was crying when the work was too hard, and the next moment I was laughing because learning is fun – and I learned so much in the program.
As an immigrant, I did not expect to go this high in my education.
I cannot deny the benefits of studying and earning the degree; however, education is not just about a degree. The effort we put in and how we push ourselves to overcome challenges sharpens our minds and makes us each a stronger person.
We need the degree to step up — but having a degree does not mean there are no more stairs to climb. We will always need to adapt to changing situations and new environments, and to continually update our knowledge. Now that I am more confident about myself and trust the value of education, I am planning to earn a doctoral degree. Education is a journey that never ends.
READY FOR YOUR NEXT EDUCATIONAL MILESTONE?
The online MBA – Hospitality program at Johnson & Wales College of Professional Studies prepares graduates with executive business competencies, professional leadership, and strategic and creative thinking skills that help them ethically solve problems occurring in the global business environment in culturally sensitive ways. For more information about the MBA – Hospitality program at Johnson & Wales College of Professional Studies, complete the Request Info form, call 855-JWU-1881, or email [email protected].