My name is Arian Florez and I am currently a student at City Tech. I was born in Astoria, Queens and have resided in Queens for the majority of my life. I identify as Colombian as my parents both immigrated to the states where they met and created the little bundle of joy that stands before you today.
Academics have always been important to me as learning must never stop if one expects to continue to grow. Though I graduated from Flushing High School, I spent much of my high school career at the Baccalaureate School for Global Education where I was exposed to a more diverse body of learning and a more personalized high school experience. The French teacher had an especially large impact on my life because he influenced me to continue my studies in the food industry. Fast forward four years, and I found myself making a decision between taking a business oriented career path or deciding to teach. Whether the business path was the better choice for me is yet to be seen. Regardless, I transferred from Hunter College into City Tech and haven’t looked back since.
I hope to graduate with a degree in hospitality management and from there I will assess my options and likely pursue further guidance in terms of entrepreneurship and all things business. While I recognize the importance of academic accolades such as degrees, I realize the importance of learning and growing socially as plenty of useful life lessons aren’t necessarily touched upon in a classroom setting. Ultimately I wish to be as well-rounded as possible so that whether it be for my employer or for myself, that I may be well-equipped to solve any problems that come my way.
In regards to my strengths, I would say it would be my ability to reflect and recognize that there are always areas I can improve in and always a better way to do things. I feel that I am a problem solver as I try not to just see things from my perspective, and put myself in the shoes of others more often than not. I am of the belief that anybody can say they work hard but actions always speak louder than words and that is why I feel that I just need to accumulate the knowledge behind my craft in order to be as efficient as possible.
Personally I want to try foods from all over the world and just be exposed to different cultures and mindsets that exist around the world. I want to know how people think and why they act the way they do. I want to be able to live comfortably while still being in control of my future. Asides from traveling and overindulging in delicious foods, I like to think I have a great sense of humor and try my best my brighten up the days of others with a little humor. The world is filled with money oriented cookie cutter businessmen, but I feel that my humor has helped in getting to know people, help deflate tense situations, as well as interact with people I might otherwise not interact with if not for business purposes. I want to be able to look back and be proud of not only having succeeded academically and financially, but having done so on my terms. Finally, my desire to travel and open my horizons to the entire world is always a nice way to improve my craft so that I may open my restaurants and other businesses with a better grasp of what the people need as a whole, besides my delicious cuisine of course.