Nicole TenHaken is having a summer to remember.
The junior-to-be at University of Wisconsin-Stout is enjoying what she calls a “dream internship” in the mountains of Big Sky country, western Montana, and in late July she was announced as a winner of a $2,500 scholarship for the 2017-18 academic year.
TenHaken, of Watertown, is majoring in hotel, restaurant and tourism management. She is one of eight national winners of the Joe Perdue Scholarship awarded by the Club Foundation, which is part of the Club Managers Association of America.
“I was competing with all the top students in the country. It’s such an honor,” TenHaken said. “It’s much more than just a scholarship. This news gets sent to all the club managers involved in CMAA around the world.”
The award, which involved a lengthy application process, is for students who have expressed an interest in a career in club management. The other winners are from Cornell University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, James Madison University and Niagara University.
TenHaken interned in 2016 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., including during the fall international Ryder Cup matches. This summer she is at the private Stock Farm Club near Hamilton, Mont., in the Bitterroot Mountain range.
“After working at Hazeltine and now Stock Farm, I am completely positive I’m going into the right area of hospitality,” she said, adding that when she came to UW-Stout she wasn’t aware of career opportunities in club management.
“With the unbelievable trips, resources and amazing mentors that CMAA offers, I was able to explore a whole new area of the hospitality industry that I fell in love with instantly,” she said.
TenHaken is vice president of UW-Stout’s student chapter of CMAA.
At Stock Farms, a recreational facility with horse riding, a top-ranked golf course, lodging and restaurants, TenHaken already is getting managerial experience. She was in charge of opening a new facility on the grounds that includes a restaurant, pool, fitness center and spa.
She hired and trained the 15 members of the staff and oversees the facility’s day-to-day operations with another manager. “It’s such a real-life experience. I have been so lucky to do this before I’m even in the industry,” she said.
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Photos
Top: UW-Stout hospitality student Nicole TenHaken does some sightseeing in western Montana, near where she is interning at the Stock Farm Club.
Bottom: Nicole TenHaken
