My Luv Letter to Hotelschool The Hague

Dear Hotelschool The Hague,

It is with surprising sadness that I am officially graduating from your school. When I started four years ago, I wouldn’t have expected to feel sadness for graduating, only relief. However, in those years, I have learned more about the industry than I thought, I have learned a lot about myself and became more at ease with being myself that I now even started my own blog, and I have made lifelong friends that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss for the world.

First year: Organised Chaos

I started Hotelschool in February 2021, entirely during the Covid period. It was a strange time to begin school as we all had to live with students we had never met before. I had an Egyptian roommate, and I learned a lot about Egyptian culture and how to live with a roommate in general, especially since I'm an only child. I met so many people in those first weeks, from new classmates to watching football with friends of friends. One of my first memories at Skotel was the first night with the house, where we had to perform some exercises to get to know each other better. One of them involved performing the opening scene of The Lion King! We chose the tallest person to lift the smallest, while the rest of us acted as animals below the cliff, like elephants and monkeys. It was a great way to meet everyone, I guess, haha. The rest of the year brought more funny and weird moments, like walking by the beach every morning, getting drunk during an etiquette dinner, enjoying a ukulele performance during class breaks by the lecturer, and getting startled by a fellow housemate when he played the first three seconds of “I Feel Good” by James Brown. Even though I wasn’t really an extrovert and didn’t visit many other houses, I loved my house and the people in it; 4 LOW was, without a doubt, the best house for me.

Second year: Viva la France and Finance

After my first year, I interned in the south of France (Mougins) for six months, a region I know by heart due to numerous family vacations. I went with three friends; one of them was already one of my closest friends and became one of my best friends, whom I still hold dearly (she was also my inspiration for the name of this blog). With the four of us, we sometimes only needed one word to laugh again about a situation. For example, when awkward silences arose, we always said, “So, hobbies?” While living in France, it was wise to know a bit of the French language, which three out of four of us did. However, we all still made the funniest mistakes, like saying, “You are a table” instead of asking, “Do you have a table?” We played many games, but UNO is one game I can never play again after the internship; we were quite competitive with each other, but things sometimes got a bit too heated during UNO. The craziest things would happen on the work floor, especially working at a golf resort, where many golf members came two to three times a week. This wasn’t out of a Crazy Rich Asians movie but a Crazy Rich Benelux movie. We had so much fun during the internship, planning trips and visiting small villages- from a day trip to Saint Tropez and tasting wines in the vineyards to driving five hours through Provence to see the lavender fields for five minutes. Even though the living arrangements and work weren’t the best, we made the most of it.

After the internship, I gained more confidence in my practical hospitality work. However, the following six months were filled with ups and downs. I had enjoyable finance classes with my friends and challenging practical courses that were quite dramatic. Other groups even noticed it because, during our daily meetings, the kitchen crew would drop by to eavesdrop on the latest drama. It was quite hilarious since I wasn’t the one involved in the drama and usually only saw the faces of the kitchen crew. I did notice that during tough and complicated times, genuine friendships will grow while lesser ones tend to fall behind. Beautiful friendships can blossom, while some may wither. However, looking back on those practical classes, I fondly remember the good times and the compliments and feedback from my peers, especially when I was seen as a steady rock during wild times; it was one of the most endearing compliments I have received. The second year ended with a wild ski trip to Avoriaz with the student association, it was an incredible week with many fun memories and I have never skied that much since then! I also loved living with my best friend in Scheveningen, we had a nice place but with the most big windows on the ground floor ever. We wanted to call the house "the fishbowl" because the house was a bit curvy and we could see everyone walking by, and they could see us.

Third Year: Smooth and Steady

My third year was already better; I felt steadier, and even though I struggled with group work, we made the best of it. After the practical classes, spring arrived, and the sun in my head shone even brighter. I didn’t have my weekly crying sessions on Wednesdays anymore, but instead enjoyed weekly parties and fun activities with my friends. I cut my hair into bangs, which was a good change for a day or two, but I always regretted it afterwards, haha. After summer vacation, I began preparing for a new experience abroad as an exchange student in Lyon. However, before that “party” could start, I had to finish my courses at school. We had a project over 20 weeks with a predetermined group, which unfortunately wasn’t my best teamwork experience. However, a little mid-week trip to London with two of my best friends made everything better. It was just unfortunate that I was extremely sick, got pneumonia afterwards, and walked 20.000 steps each day, but we can just leave that part out, right? It was fun either way! We had to leave school early to begin the exchange program in Lyon, and I went with three school friends, one of whom was my best friend. We drove together to Lyon at the end of January and were welcomed at the Airbnb by sunny weather and the sound of birds chirping in the distance; it marked a very good beginning for this new adventure.

Fourth year: Paul Bocuse and PR Internship

The exchange program marked the beginning of my final year at HTH. Although the school is prestigious to have on your CV, the classes weren’t that difficult, and we had a lot of free time, which we spent very well. We made many trips, from visiting my best friend’s old hometown, Toulouse, to exploring castles in the Loire Valley, to partying with Danish people in Cannes. More can be read, of course, in my Lost Luv Letter to Lyon. Let's just say this experience made me love France even more than I already did. Even though it wasn’t a challenging experience, I still learned a lot about myself through deep late-night talks with my friend, which somehow always ended in a laughing session and rolling off a couch or bed. (Want to read more about Lyon? Check the link! https://www.luvletterstotheworld.com/post/my-lost-luv-letter-to-lyon)

After those five months, my last few months were approaching very quickly. I began my final internship in Amsterdam at a PR agency specialising in food, wine, and hospitality. I learned a lot about specific wines, events, and social media marketing. I worked at various hospitality fairs to promote different wine regions, hosted an event in Amsterdam and Ghent for Moldovan wines, and was responsible for multiple social media plans for various brands. Additionally, I was writing my final thesis on alcohol regulations on social media during those months, and due to the hectic pace, I couldn’t really reflect on my Hotelschool years.

A relieved and sad Goodbye

Suddenly, on January 21st, I was no longer a Hotello. After my official graduation, I began reflecting on the past four years. Writing this post is quite personal, as I have met amazing people who are now my lifelong friends. I have friends around the world, and I know we will always be there for each other. I have encountered individuals from diverse cultures and learned from them. I met someone I thought would be my life partner, but it never progressed beyond friendship. I have learned to open myself up more to others and can talk to anyone about anything. I have become more confident in myself. I have actually blossomed at this school.

It is funny that a hospitality school will teach you so much about life and yourself, even though you learn about the service industry and serving others.

Therefore, thank you, Hotelschool the Hague, for teaching me about the industry and making me meet my best friends and myself. Class of 2025 is out, now on to new adventures!

Spread the luv,

Isabella