Hello! My name is Nicole Zerrer and I am a senior at K-State, graduating in May. I am from Tonganoxie, Kansas which is a small town between Lawrence and Kansas City. I actually grew up a die-hard KU fan and never even thought about coming to K-State until I came on a visit my senior year of high school. I ended up choosing K-State because I wanted to be a little farther away from home, all of the buildings matched each other, and I was looking into the Interior Design program which is what I actually started out in. I quickly realized that Interior Design wasn’t for me, and looked into the Hospitality program, specifically the events track. I talked with a few different people and decided that’s what I wanted to do instead.
I switched into the hospitality program after my first semester at K-State and haven’t looked back since! I loved my hospitality classes here and met so many great friends through this program. I am graduating a year early, which I am extremely excited about but also sad to leave this amazing place!
While being a part of the Hospitality Program I became a student ambassador this past year and a member of PEMS which stands for Professional Event Management Society. I am also a member of the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority here at K-State. I have had part time jobs in the hospitality industry throughout college, and my favorite experience I have had so far was completing one of my internships at Heritage Event Spaces in Kansas City. I have worked there for two summers now, supervising weddings and other special events, and run their social media platforms while I am in Manhattan during the school year.
After graduation in May, I am taking a trip with my family to celebrate, and then starting a full-time job at Prairie Band Casino in June. My job title is a Player Development Casino Host and is actually a sales position. I am super excited to see what the future has in store for me as I start my professional career! I am sad my time at K-State has come to an end, but I am so thankful for the experiences I have gotten and the memories and friendships I have made. I couldn’t have made it through without eating Taco Lucha and Jeff’s pizza every single week for the past three years… oh and my amazing professors in the Hospitality program of course.