Erika Watkins earns $1,500 award from local chapter of international tourism organization.
Erika Watkins enjoys scaring the daylights out of people.
Each fall for the past seven years, Watkins has worked as a special effects makeup artist and actor during Phantom Fright Nights at Kennywood amusement park, ranked by a national publication as the fifth-best Halloween theme park event in America.
"I try to be scary, but what's emphasized is being entertaining, because it is all about giving the customers an experience," said Watkins, who will graduate in December 2018 with a degree in geography and a concentration in tourism studies. Her minor is in parks and recreation management.
She wants to manage a park one day — her dream job is to manage a "haunt" — but she doesn't rule out traditional attractions such as Hersheypark in Pennsylvania and Dollywood's DreamMore Resort in Tennessee.
A recent tourism and hospitality scholarship will help her follow those dreams.
Watkins was one of four recipients awarded the SKAL International Pittsburgh Tourism and Hospitality Management Scholarship on April 17.
SKAL International Pittsburgh is the local chapter of SKAL, an international organization that brings together all sectors of the travel and tourism industry.
SKAL's Scholarship awards $1,500 to students who demonstrate the potential to achieve a managerial position in the hospitality and/or tourism field. Academic performance, attendance, cooperation, communication skills, and ageneral spirit of hospitality and goodwill toward others are taken into account.
Dr. Susan Ryan, coordinator for Cal U's tourism studies program and a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, nominated Watkins.
"Erika fits the criteria perfectly," Ryan said of the scholarship. "She is a perfect example of what the industry refers to as the personification of the 'hospitality spirit.' Erika is extremely hard-working, and I am confident she will be rewarded through a successful career in tourism and hospitality."
Watkins is a Presidential Scholar, which requires an undergraduate grade-point average of at least 3.25. She's hoping to work this year at Seven Springs Mountain Resort's Summer Adventures Program, where she would help guests navigate the resort's recreational areas.
"SKAL is ... all about giving people opportunities and bettering themselves, so it
does not surprise me at all that Dr. Ryan is affiliated with them," said Watkins.
"Since I came here, she has been so welcoming and helpful."
Watkins, a native of Homestead, Pa., transferred to Cal U five years after attending
Community College of Allegheny County.
"Even after that gap, Cal U took all of my credits, which really helped," said Watkins, 28.
"No one seemed fazed or treated me differently (even though I'm) an older student. And there's a building that has my last name on it.
"All of this I find pretty cool."