Student Spotlight
Kait Gurney, Disney here I come
Kait Gurney will soon be rubbing elbows with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and other Disney characters during a five-month internship at Disney World.
After graduating high school in 2010, Kait worked at Holiday Inn by the Bay, where she discovered her passion for the hospitality industry. She’s now enrolled in the Hospitality Management program and was recently accepted into a highly competitive Disney College Program internship at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
During the internship, from January into May, she’ll learn all the ins and outs of Disney World’s hospitality operations. Only 7 percent of first-time applicants are accepted into the program.
After she graduates from SMCC, she plans to either earn a bachelor’s degree in hospitality or enter the workforce.
“I’ve always loved Disney. My ultimate goal is to work at Tokyo Disney Sea, a Disney theme park in Tokyo.”
Faculty Spotlight
Mark Reuscher, outside the box
Before coming to SMCC, Mark Reuscher worked for a manufacturing company and then owned his own small business. Now he’s teaching students how to succeed in business by thinking outside the box.
Reuscher began teaching full-time at SMCC in 2004 and is now chairman of the Business Department. He has a bachelor’s degree from St. Bonaventure and an MBA from Syracuse.
He especially likes making a difference in students’ lives, setting them up for the real world and teaching them to think from different perspectives.
“Whenever I see our alumni, they’re always saying thanks for the great education they got at SMCC. It makes you feel great.”