Expert: Bruce - 2/17/2010

Question
My name is Shane Carman.  I am a high school student at Geneseo Central School, in Geneseo NY.  I am beginning to plan for my future.  One career area I am very interested in is recreation.  I currently am opening a youth center for my county and have researched the topic of recreation enough to possibly consider it a career choice.  I have several job positions in mind but do not know which "focus area" in the recreation major I would want to choose.  While I am a young adult, I would love to work on a cruise ship as a youth counselor.  As I gain experience and age, I would like to be in a management position of a recreation facility, arena, hotel, or another related enterprise.  One thing that is unique about myself is that I am not interested in sports.  It seems as though recreation majors go along with sporting careers.  Would you say this is actuate?  Would it make more sense to pursue a degree related to hospitality?  It seems as though that most of the cruising job listings mention recreation as a degree requirement but management positions at hotels, arenas, etc are geared towards a hospitality or business degree.  

Thank you for your help and support.  Your help is invaluable.

Sincerely,
Shane Carman

Answer
Hi Shane,

I think it's great that you are starting to think about college and career already.

What I would suggest is that you choose a college that will allow you to pick up a major in recreation or recreation management and will also allow you to pick up a 2nd major, or at least classes, in areas of business and psych/youth work. I am not in favor, generally, of degrees as specific as hotel management - a business degree can get you to the same place - and also gives you a broader set of options than a hotel mgmnt degree.

Are you looking to go to as school in a particular region, or of a certain size or feel (music school, outdoorsy, religious). If so, I may be able to suggest a couple places to check. I am most familiar with schools in the east.

Best wishes.

Bruce