Graduation

ITMI Class #257 graduated on Sunday, February 14th and celebrated with a surprisingly good buffet dinner provided by the Beverly Garland Hotel and free-flowing wine provided by ITMI. It's quite nice that Ted likes to share his love of wine with his students!

Each of us signed up for an hour of career counseling with Ted and Randy for either Monday or Tuesday. While reviewing different national, international, and incentive tour companies with Randy, I was particularly excited to see one company for which I have a connection; it is quite a coincidence. Earlier in the course I had met one of my high school friends, Jeryl Jagoda, for dinner; although we were three years apart, we were both "drama-ramas" and performed in The Sound of Music together -- she as Gretel and me as Frau Schmidt. We also worked on The Miracle Worker -- she as Helen Keller and me assisting the director. She told me that her family business, of which is not a part, is incentive travel (along with related marketing). She would put in a good word, but there on the list of suggested companies was her family business on Long Island! So perhaps I will take incentive travel a little more seriously.

Ted worked with me on my resume and cover letter, in itself almost worth the cost of tuition. They also asked us to create a sheet of immediate and future goals -- our action plan. So many of my friends and family have been asking me, now what? So here it is -- send out at least 20 - 30 resumes with cover letters specific to the company. Follow up. Pursue the DC license and perhaps even the New York license. STUDY. Take tours. Take the DC test. Set up informational interviews. Goal -- at least one spring job. Easy? no. Doable? yes. I will let you know.

For now I am continuing north up the coast visiting dear friends -- the Makoffs and the Warrens -- and then home. My March 5th tour of Costa Rica will certainly be approached from a new perspective. The best news I have received during the two-week course is that my sister got a job after an extended period of unemployment. Here is hoping that I soon follow in her footsteps.