Chinese native finds hopeful career path at new Kirkwood hotel
She moves about the room methodically, polishing mirrors and dusting countertops. Even though the guest room has only been open for a couple months, the attendant tends to each surface as if it were a museum heirloom. A guest bed is made….just so, sheets tucked with precision, comforter smoothed flat. A round bolster and pillows are arranged at the headboard as if placed in a Zen garden.
When her housekeeping tasks are done, she nods and offers one of a seemingly endless supply of gentle smiles. This is the foundational skill of her chosen profession, professional hospitality. Xinchun Ouyang has traveled nearly 10 thousand miles for a rare opportunity to learn modern hotel business practices in small-town Iowa.
Her arrival in the U.S. coincided with the opening of The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, arguably the most comprehensive and upscale teaching hotel in North America. Kirkwood Community College developed the new facility to make the educational experience as real as possible. Ms. Ouyang’s learning encompasses the exacting basics of room housekeeping, laundry and general cleaning. Soon, those skills will have business savvy and modern trends added, taught in part by the same professional staff working 24-7 at The Hotel.
The effervescent 20-something hails from the village of Yiyang in Hunan province, a couple hundred miles northwest of Hong Kong and the coast. Her parents are farmers in the largely rice-producing region.
“Sometimes my father will go to the capital city, Changsha to do work to support the family. Many in my hometown do that,” she said.
Ms. Ouyang’s opportunity to be among the first students working and learning in the new facility came about by her sponsorship to come to Iowa via a sponsorship by local residents who made her trans-Pacific journey possible.
“I’m what you might call a real lucky dog to get to come here,” Ouyang says with her signature grin. “I really appreciate what Steve Sadler and Jean Kraus, my sponsors have done for me. To be frank, I was not sure what I was going to do with my life when I first got here. I heard about the new hotel and hospitality careers and decided to try it. So far, the things I have done and learned make me very excited!”
Ouyang’s enthusiasm for Kirkwood’s Hospitality programs is mirrored in her instructors’ pleasure with her progress so far. Hospitality Instructor/Coordinator Lisa Goodwin calls the Chinese-born student a “very positive and upbeat” addition to her classes.
“This is a tenacious and confident young woman. She is curious and hard working, and that seems to inspire more of the same in her fellow students. She has set high personal standards for herself, and makes it look easy.”
Ouyang’s fall classes at The Hotel included some of the basics of making any hotel hospitable: clean, pressed sheets and towels folded to specified standards. Kirkwood’s facilities include a professional laundry pressing machine usually found at mega-hotels offering hundreds of rooms. The tool is so large construction crews moved it into place—then finished building the hotel basement around it.
“That big machine is an important tool at big hotels, and we think future professionals should know how to operate it,” said Hotel General Manager Lee Belfield. “That’s a key part of the philosophy here. We want our graduates to have the knowledge and skills to step into entry management positions at the top chains and leading properties. We truly believe we will lead the world in developing those talents here at Kirkwood.”
The Hotel’s diners and guests come from the general public more than just the Kirkwood faculty and students. The facility’s 71 rooms gleam with upscale amenities and nouvelle/fusion cuisine on the menu. The facility could also arguably be considered an art gallery, as more than 300 paintings, photographs and sculptures grace hallways and lobby, restaurant and guestrooms.
In its first season of operation, The Hotel at Kirkwood Center has already hosted international business conferences, leading civic and private social functions and more than a dozen weddings. The November-December Holiday season was nearly nonstop in event bookings.
Amid the bustle of guests, meals and personal attention a cheerful Asian student worker moves through the daily events with energy and focus.
“I do think I will enjoy my life and time here,” Xinchun Ouyang says between her tasks. “I am very happy with what I am doing now. I have found I really enjoy interacting with people. I know hospitality is the thing I am going to do. I can do this great career while traveling around the world.”
Instructor Goodwin nods in agreement as she considers the new student’s early progress.
“It’s really something to watch her embrace this opportunity. She arrived in the U.S. just days before school started last August. She really is adapting well. You just can’t help but smile when you see her coming down the hall. Ouyang just seems so happy to be here,” Goodwin observed.
Three floors up, many thousands of miles from her birth, a young woman arranges another pillow and polishes one more bathroom faucet. She is intent on the work at hand—and focused on her future.