As the second week comes to an end, I can’t believe we are already halfway through this amazing experience. This week was full of excursions and adventures. Approaching the third week of this trip has made me realize how grateful I am for everything that this trip has given me.
At the beginning of the week, we began to look into Vacation St. Maarten’s social media accounts and analyze them with a client profile in our groups. By the end of the week, we all had to present our findings to the class and I found this very helpful. This is one of the first times I’ve done such an in-depth profile on a company. I focused on their Instagram account, an overview of the brand, and their social media voice. It made me and my group go in-depth into our client’s social media and figure out a plan to help them. I learned a lot about analyzing a company and understanding what points they need to focus on to improve their brand. These real-life experiences are helping me to get more of an understanding of how public relations works and how important it is to companies.
The following days mostly contained excursions and hands-on experiences. First, a group of us decided to go back to Philipsburg to walk and shop around a little more. We went back to Juggie’s Place, which is the smallest bar in the world located in Philipsburg. We all talked to Juggie, this couple, and her sister on the patio for what felt like hours. It was super fun and we all had a great time just chilling out and talking to new people. Juggie even let me get behind the counter and check people out at the register which was so fun! Juggie also said that we could change the name to “Kate and Juggie’s Place.” Who would’ve thought I’d become a business owner on this trip? The next day, we all went to Marigot, the capital of the French side, to also just shop and walk around. It was cool to see the differences between the French and Dutch capitals.
Our final excursion of the week was at Topper’s Distillery in Simpson Bay where we got a tour of the facility. We got to learn all about the history of rum in the Caribbean and the process of making rum which was super cool and interesting. Our tour guide also told us all the history behind the brand and the flavors of the rum such as Nelson’s Blood, Mocha Mama, and more. EB and I got to be the chef and sous-chef and help the tour guide cook food to pair with the certain rums. I got to cook pineapple chicken with their pineapple rum while EB served the different flavors of rum and foods, like gelato and rum cake, to everyone. It was so fun to be a part of the Topper’s experience and help our tour guide. When we continued our tour of Topper’s, it gave me a sense of the importance of connections between the product and the community. Topper’s has such presence on the island and the history of the brand is very important to everyone who works there and everyone who likes Topper’s. It was very interesting to get to have a hands-on experience and almost be a part of the brand.
Exploring and learning more and more about this island every day has given me an experience I could never imagine. I am very excited for the upcoming weeks we have left in St. Maarten, but at the same time, I never want to leave.
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