Scholarships make education attainable for Hospitality Management student

Greta Miller ’22 remembers the day she opened the mail and learned she had received financial aid to attend York College of Pennsylvania. “I cried,” she says, recalling the moment. “Without scholarships, college would not be attainable for me.”

The resident of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, spent most of her life admiring her father’s career path. He worked in the hospitality industry, from restaurants to hotel management and even casinos. Miller remembers watching families spend some of their happiest moments under his care, and she wanted to help others find the same joy.

Narrowing her list of colleges to attend was a challenge at first. She applied to nine different schools, but it was when she stepped on the campus of York College that she felt she was in the right place. “I was so charmed by the campus, by York City, and by the professors,” she says. “Out of all the schools I could have attended, this was the place for me.”

An opportunity to learn

Miller has several scholarships that made attending college possible for her. As a Graham Innovation Scholar, she’s encouraged to explore and try to implement real change in her community. With a focus on fostering the entrepreneurial spirit, Miller is learning to look at problems and find ways to solve them.

She had an opportunity to practice those skills while working with local leaders on the Yorktowne Hotel redevelopment project. “It’s an incredible experience to see how different partners can work together to create change,” she says. “I learned so much about how collaboration and innovation can change the course of a community.”

Miller was also a recipient of private family scholarships and merit-based scholarships. Receiving those scholarships made education a reality for Miller, and she wants to show her appreciation for those financial gifts by being a good student and working to make a positive change in the world.

“It’s so important to get an education and respect the people who provide it,” she says. “I’m doing everything in my power to be curious and seek out higher education. I’m really lucky.”

A bright future

Miller has worked a variety of jobs in the hospitality industry. She’s learned a lot from “the ground up” by being a server and working in hotel housekeeping. But, she says, York College is preparing her to be a leader in those fields.

She’s also looking forward to taking on an international mindset as a Graham Scholar and within the industry. With a study abroad scholarship, Miller plans to visit Barcelona, Spain, where she can apply the six years of Spanish she has taken. COVID-19 has deferred that scholarship, but it’s an opportunity she’s looking forward to in the future.

“I can see myself working the Philadelphia restaurant scene, or traveling to work in different hotels,” Miller says. “There are so many options to see the world with this industry. I have a lot of places I’d like to see.”