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A Degree and a Destination: Next stop, December!
Most of my days right now involve a combination of assignments and thinking about how close December actually is.
My name is Hannah Wallace, a Tourism and Hospitality Management senior at Middle Tennessee State University and the newest member at South Central Tennessee Tourism Association and Experience Tennessee. I am finishing my degree while beginning my career in the same industry I have been studying, and there is a lot happening between those two milestones!
Over the next month and a half, I will be documenting that experience through our social media here at SCTTA. My hope is to give you a closer look at the connection between studying tourism and hospitality and beginning a career in the field - and introduce myself along the way!
My Time at MTSU
I came to MTSU after earning my associate degree in Business Administration from Columbia State Community College in 2024. Over the last two years, I have been pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management, with minors in Business Administration and Psychology.
Some of my most meaningful experiences have happened beyond the classroom: serving on MTSU's THM Advisory Board, contributing to two research studies about blueways, volunteering at industry events, and representing the program as a student ambassador at Blizzard Reimagined and the Tennessee Governor’s Conference on Hospitality and Tourism. This year, I was also honored to receive MTSU’s Outstanding THM Student award. Along the way, I have developed a particular interest in tourism marketing and communications, which makes beginning my role as Communications and Office Coordinator at Experience Tennessee while finishing my degree especially exciting!
Connecting Class to Work
Studying tourism and hospitality while working in the field gives me somewhere to apply what I am learning. Conversations about marketing, visitor experiences, and business strategy become more concrete when I am also helping create content that people may use to plan a visit. It works in the other direction, too. Work gives me questions to bring back to class and examples to think through beyond an assignment. Having both experiences at once is helping me understand how the decisions we discuss in a classroom show up in everyday work.
This semester has also given me opportunities to learn from people already working in the industry. As mentioned previously, I attended the Tennessee Governor’s Conference on Hospitality and Tourism as a student ambassador, and on top of that I have been meeting with a mentor who works in destination public relations for one of my classes. Those experiences have helped me better understand the range of careers within tourism and how much I still have to explore. They have also made the transition after graduation feel a little more familiar. I am getting to know people whose work I can learn from while beginning to find my own place in the industry!
Sharing the Weeks Ahead
As I document these final weeks, I want to share the everyday moments alongside the milestones: finishing senior projects, learning something new at work, meeting people in the industry, and getting to know more of the region.
Through photos and updates on our socials, I will be sharing what stands out each week and how my experiences at MTSU connect to my role here. Together, those updates will follow this stretch from my final semester through graduation, when I will finally get to look back on what I have learned and what comes next!
Looking Toward December
There are still assignments to finish and plenty of learning ahead before graduation. Alongside that, I am settling into my role here, getting to know more of the region and its people, and figuring out how to put my education to work.
I am excited for December, but I also want to take time to appreciate everything happening before then. Sharing this experience gives me a reason to pause, reflect, and bring you into a part of my life that is moving very quickly. I am looking forward to bringing you along - and getting to know more of you as you get to know me!
