In the September school holidays I attended a QRC Experience in Queenstown This course was funded through the STAR programme. ORC stands for Queenstown Resort College, a school for Hospitality and Tourism. There were 29 students from all over New Zealand.

On the first day we all went on the K-Jet for a half an hour ride up the river, where we all got a little bit wet. When we arrived back from that we had a talk from some of the teachers on what all the courses were about and what was involved in working in the Tourism and Hospitality industry.

On the second day we went out to the Millbrook resort and had a tour around the place, walking through three different restaurants, looking inside the accommodation rooms and at the gardens.

After the tour finished we had some free time in Arrowtown before returning to Queenstown. Once back in Queenstown we went up the Skyline gondola then up the ski lift to the luge where we each had three goes. Later in the afternoon, we visited the Fear Factory.

On the final day we had individual interviews where they asked us about what we were thinking of doing next year and whether we thought we might enrol at the QRC.

The whole three days were a great experience. I was already looking to a career in the Adventure Tourism industry and this experience confirmed that is what I would like to do.

Shannon Gordon, Year 13