I heard about the grant through the hospitality department at the University of San Francisco. Each semester the program conducts a scholarship workshop that provides students with lists of available scholarships and practical assistance with the application process. Hospitality majors have exclusive access to nearly 20 different scholarship opportunities sponsored by hospitality associations, foundations, companies, and individual benefactors.

Currently, I am working at KPMG as an auditor and my main clients are hotel investment companies. This has been a great way to blend both my hospitality studies and accounting studies together. In the future, I do plan to move more directly into the hospitality consulting industry.

The EF grant enabled me to continue with my education without having to worry about my financial obligations. I was able to focus on my honors classes and gain experience through numerous internships throughout my college career. I graduated in the top 10 percent of my class, and my work and leadership experiences led me to obtain a full-time job offer in the summer after my junior year.

Thank you again for this scholarship opportunity. I am incredibly honored and privileged to receive the support of the industry as an aspiring hospitality leader. I hope to make you all proud of my future endeavors by continuing to work hard and gain experience in the hospitality industry.

I actually did not hear of the grant until already connected with Cini-Little (Armand in Chicago). To my knowledge Cini-Little filled out the paperwork (if there was any) that allowed me to get the grant. In my opinion this grant should be marketed in school programs. I feel like schools like Purdue, Cornell, etc. would help promote this grant.

As far as the grant, it allowed me to intern at Cini-Little where as otherwise I may not have had the chance. It definitely opened up a whole new side of the hospitality industry that I didn’t know existed. It actually shaped my objective to eventually get back to the project management role (out of undergrad) versus focusing solely on the operations side of the industry.

I finish up my MBA studies this 2015 and have a number of goals. I’m looking to enter the commercial real estate industry, focused on hospitality, in a finance and/or development role, ideally, working my way up through a company and then potentially splitting off to start my own firm. I like the idea of remaining in the hospitality sector since that is where my experience has been. Also, the experience at Cini-Little helps with the transition to a development role as I can lean on my past construction/project management background.

I think the grant is a great thing. It allowed me to experience a different side of the hospitality industry that I would otherwise not have. I feel it would benefit any student in the hospitality industry to help better their knowledge of the industry.

I heard about it from one of my professors, Brian Black. He represents my school as the Director of Hospitality Industry Relations. Since Mr. Farrand is a Penn State alumnus, Mr. Black referred me for the CLI Internship at CLI (Cini-Little) in Philadelphia.

I learned about the fundamentals of kitchen design, equipment specs, operation flows, and construction phases. I now appreciate all aspects of kitchen design and I was able to provide suggestions on floor drawings when I was selected to be the assistant manager of Jamba Juice and McAlister’s Deli at Penn State.

My current goal is to develop the skills needed to build effective teams in a restaurant environments, while developing my communication skills.

It was an absolutely great experience and is a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in the restaurant side of the industry. It was a real hands-on experience, what with sitting across the table from real investors, operators, contractors, and other management personnel. I’ll never regret taking up the opportunity to intern at CLI.