The BIS Program was intriguing to me in a few different ways.  It was important to me to have areas that would spark my interest, as a degree is a lifetime achievement and I wanted to be proud of what I earned on my own.  The BIS program offers individuals to pick two different concentration areas, sometimes three, one being a minor.  After six classes are taken in each concentration area, in my case Tourism Management and Business, there are four core BIS classes in which the professors teach how to integrate the two subjects interdisciplinarily.  The four core classes in the BIS program were helpful in planning for the workforce outside of college.  I learned how to integrate my concepts and knowledge of both concentration areas successfully.  It was important to research and think about the different ways all of the subject areas are easily connected.  Also, the concept of thinking in an interdisciplinary way was thoroughly taught. 

I learned a great amount of skills and information in the Business concentration.  The classes I took were Marketing, Communications, Management, Accounting, Real Estate and Economics.  In Marketing I learned how to analyze an effective ad-campaign, made my own ads, and was also taught about the different types of ads.  The communications class taught me how to effectively communicate with people both personally and professionally.  I made speeches and wrote papers, and also learned about the other different types of communication.  Management was an important class for me to take because it taught me the importance of human resources and leadership positions.  I also learned about the different types of businesses.  In Accounting, I learned about the different financial statements including the balance sheet and income statement.  I also learned about personal and business oriented finance practices.  Real Estate was an interesting class to me. I learned about the different types of loans, interest and housing available to buy or rent.  It was very interesting because I have been looking to buy a house.  Finally, Economics taught me about how money in every sense effects the world.  Supply and demand was a main part of this class and how if the resources aren’t there people can’t have them so there will always be a high demand.

            In the tourism classes I learned a lot about tourism on a general basis, as well as in transportation service, nature-based tourism, and entrepreneurial tourism.  The first two classes I took at ASU in the Tourism concentration were Leisure and the Quality of Life and a basic Introduction to Tourism class.  The Leisure and the Quality of Life class taught how travel is used for leisure.  The Introduction of Tourism class was just a basic intro into travel which discussed types of travel, sustainable tourism, the first tour guide operator and many other things.  It was an interesting class to get the basics of tourism down.  Nature Based tourism was exactly what the name says.  It was about all the different types of nature based tourism and how hotels and other companies are becoming more “green.”  Transportation systems in tourism was all about trains, cars, planes, boats, ferries and many other types of transportation.  It talked about the different prices and ways people can get around, and the effectiveness of each mode of transportation.  Finally, entrepreneurial tourism explained different ways people start businesses in the tourism industry.  It was about conducting a business plan and effectively starting a tourism based company.