On October 8th till October 11th, both Holly and I travelled to PIHMS ( Pacific International Hotel Management School ) located in New Plymouth for a hotel management course. Each year PIHMS hold a career week in April , July and October. We flew from Dunedin to New Plymouth with a layover in Wellington and that in itself was quite an experience. From turbulence during landing in Wellington to the smallest plane to New Plymouth. The course consisted of us really learning the ropes of the industry and showing us how far it can take us. In total there were 73 secondary students in either Year 12 or 13 from all over the country. On the first day we were put into teams and got shown around campus. Over the few days each group had to create and plan their own event which would hypothetically be held at PIHMS. This gave us all a chance to work with people we usually wouldn't and also see the ups and downs of event planning. The course gave us an opportunity to visit a four and a half star hotel in the center of New Plymouth called Novotel. This was a real eye opener as they talked about how the majority of their staff went to PIHMS and how having a PIHMS degree is a very high achievement. The people we met at this course were unbelievable and the friendships that were made are really special and will last a long time. Breakfast, lunch and dinner was provided at the on-campus restaurant La Vista where the students studying at PIHMS do their degree and is basically their classroom. Both Holly and I went to New Plymouth with very low expectations and for me that was not the case when I left. The two main highlights for me would have been making our own designer mocktail within our group and putting it up for competition, and also meeting everyone. The friendships that we made are quite special. A downfall of the trip would be our flights as both there and back we had a layover which was a little annoying but we got to see some other places and the flights were a little tiring. Another thing is that we travelled by ourselves with no parent or teacher which was a little daunting at first but it helped us become more mature and responsible. The food at PIHMS wasn't great but it wasn't bad considering the amount of people there. I would definitely recommend PIHMS to anyone going into the tourism industry and wants to go along the management path. We were lucky enough to experience this and it wouldn't be without our careers coordinator Ms Guile.

- Hannah Anderson