TSA Fall Fireside Event

The Tourism Student Association (TSA) hosted a Fall Fireside event on Friday, Oct. 27. The event took place in the backyard of advisor Claire McWilliams’ house.

TSA members and guests sat around the fire roasting hot dogs before creating and sharing their inspiring travel stories. After sharing stories, members crafted unique s’mores with the ingredients provided such as peanut butter, banana, coconut, Oreos, caramel and more. One of the featured s’mores of the night was club vice president Jeneca’s delectable treat made with graham cracker with nutella, coconut, caramel, rice crispy, toasted marshmallow and another graham cracker to top it off. Others went with the traditional marshmallow and chocolate.

Mer Norwood of SheMovesPHX was invited as a guest speaker to share invaluable insights and expertise in travel storytelling. Mer taught students that one of the most important parts of sharing a travel story is to have a great "attention getter" at the beginning. Another great detail was to share from the perspective of what you know and what others do not know, and to include detailed imagery. Zade, TSA Treasurer, shared a story with the lesson of traveling and living in the moment rather than worrying about the surroundings or events such as mud on your bright green Crocs! Faculty member Nick Wise shared about his travels abroad in various countries, including his stories of hitchhiking, hostels and such extraordinary experiences! Under the beautiful night sky, it was a fabulous time with community and laughter as students picked up a few new storytelling skills.