Expert: Susie Watts - 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
I think it is accurate to say that most recreation majors include people who love sports and would like to take that passion and turn it into a career.  Many people who are interested in the hospitality industry major in hotel and restaurant management.  They usually want to work in hotels, restaurants, or private catering.  Sports management is a major of some people who work in arenas or different areas of athletics.  Usually, when you go to college you have an opportunity to take an introductory course or two in a subject of interest to see what it is all about. I think that might help you to develop your focus before you need to determine your major at the end of your sophomore year.


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