<\/p>\n
Zoe Rubin (left), hospitality management junior and pageant participant, does a mock interview with Marisabel Flowers (middle), senior recruiter at Rosen Hotels & Resorts, and Courtney Eckelberger (right), recruiting and community outreach specialist at Rosen Hotels & Resorts, during the Recognizing Hospitality Pageant on Thursday at UCF Rosen’s Darden Auditorium.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Valentina Solorzano<\/p>\n
Students took the spotlight at UCF\u00a0Rosen College of Hospitality Management\u2019s first annual Recognizing Hospitality Pageant Thursday, where contestants competed for a $500 scholarship.<\/p>\n
The Recognizing Hospitality Pageant aims to revive the tradition of the Mister and Miss Hospitality competition, previously hosted by the Rosen College and discontinued in 2020 due to COVID-19, said Sabrina Rihl, senior event management major and special events director of Rosen Life.<\/p>\n
Nine students competed to be crowned hospitality royalty and win the scholarship. UCF students applied to participate in the pageant through Rosen Life’s Instagram account.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The competition consisted of three parts, beginning with a professional dress strut. Then, contestants did a mock interview, answering questions about their passion for and experience in the hospitality industry.<\/p>\n
Finally, students demonstrated their hospitality skills through presentations highlighting their philosophy on hospitality and events they had organized.<\/p>\n
At the end of the night, a winner was chosen by a panel of hospitality professionals, including Ashley Mostaccio, director of sales for\u00a0nationwide event company PRA<\/a>\u00a0and UCF Rosen’s 2013 Miss Hospitality.<\/p>\n The scholarship prize money was a major benefit\u00a0of the event, said Luke Brown, senior event management major, supporting students who often balance demanding coursework and industry jobs. According to UCF Rosen<\/a>, more than 1,000 students complete internships each semester.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brown is the student director for Rosen Life and said he hopes events like this will bring the college together.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRosen has gotten more disconnected the past few years, so we want to bridge the gap between career and living your life,\u201d said Brown. \u201cA big thing that we’ve been pushing this year with Rosen Life is trying to revive our traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n Rihl said scholarships can expand access to opportunities for students.<\/p>\n \u201cA scholarship can change so much about your accessibility in continuing your college career,\u201d Rihl said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Michelle Friberg (left), winner of the Recognizing Hospitality Pageant, poses at UCF Rosen’s Darden Auditorium on Thursday with Ashley Mostaccio, director of sales for PRA, which plans and executes business events around the United States, and UCF Rosen’s 2013 Miss Hospitality.\u00a0<\/p>\n Valentina Solorzano<\/p>\n Michelle Friberg, senior event management major, was crowned the pageant’s winner and scholarship recipient.\u00a0Friberg works for the Four Seasons Hotel and serves as president of MPI Knights<\/a>,\u00a0the UCF chapter of Meeting Professionals International, a networking organization for hospitality students in the event sector.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of what [Rosen students] do is work. We work many, many hours while also pursuing school,\u201d Friberg said. \u201cTo be able to recognize those students for those accomplishments is just a really cool thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Friberg said the pageant was a reflection of how much she and her peers have grown in their years at Rosen.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really cool, at the end of my college experience, to see a culmination of everything I\u2019ve done \u2026 and what I\u2019m leaving behind as a legacy,\u201d Friberg said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n