Traci Huggans.

Traci Huggans of Berlin said she tried college right out of high school, but she wasn’t ready and like many students, didn’t yet know what she wanted to do. After working in various service industry jobs, she said, “I decided it was time to get a more grown-up job.” She came back to college full time when she was 24 years old, and in less than a year, thanks to previous credits and transfer credits, she earned her associate degree in hotel-motel-restaurant management. She now works as the guest relations and marketing manager at the Dunes Manor Hotel in Ocean City.

A dean’s list student, Huggans said she worked and went to school full time, day and night, to finish her degree, taking a combination of online and on-campus classes.

She said what she appreciated the most were the small classes, where she received plenty of individual attention. “It was nice to have regular interaction with the department head. He was a very engaging teacher,” Huggans said, referring to Scott D. Dahlberg, former department head and professor of hotel-motel-restaurant management. “I learned how to cook, which was a life skill that I really needed.”

In addition to academics, she has other fond memories of Wor-Wic. “I met my best friend there. We are still friends all these years later.”

Huggans said that her degree from Wor-Wic helped her get her previous job as a manager in regional sales and marketing for 3rd Wave Brewing Co. in Delmar, Del. Her experience there is what landed her the role at the Dunes Manor Hotel where she organizes guest activities, creates booking packages and handles social media, graphic design and print marketing and advertising, as well as updating the website. In her spare time, she runs two of her own businesses – one that provides drone photography and videography, and one that offers web design and digital marketing services.

Huggans said that marketing is constantly changing and she likes to stay on top of it. “You are never finished learning when you are in this industry,” she added.

She plans to continue marketing and sales in the hospitality industry while growing her own businesses.