Pardue goes back to school after three decades

It had been three decades since Trina Pardue had been in school.

 

But to her surprise, going back to school was an enjoyable experience. So enjoyable that what was supposed to be a short visit to pick up a Special Events certificate turned into almost two years and an Associate’s Degree in Hospitality Administration from Ivy Tech.

 

“I started going through the classes and really, really enjoyed it,” said Pardue, Hoosier Energy’s Events Manager. “I was doing well and then realized I was very close to another degree – just six to eight classes away. So that’s what I decided to do.”

 

Her original degree was in accounting, earned early in her career at Hoosier Energy. Over time, Pardue taught herself graphic design, a skill that paved the way for her move to the Communications Department, where she was also quickly immersed in event planning.

 

“I really found that was kind of my niche,” she said. “I love helping people, and that is why my job is a perfect fit. I get to help bring people together for a variety of reasons, whether it be educational lunch and learns or helping in the community. It’s my heartbeat.”

 

Finding that niche saw Pardue promoted to her current role as Events Manager in the fall of 2023.

 

That was about the same time she decided to further her education, aided by Hoosier Energy’s tuition reimbursement program.

 

“What started my interest in learning was going through the Bell Leadership courses,” Pardue said. “I learned a lot from that, and then I also went through the Leadership Edge Program at IEC. Those two reignited my interest in learning.”

 

Initially, she enrolled at Indiana University, but academic advisors told her she was overqualified for their program. Ivy Tech offered a slightly different program, which included the food and beverage side of special events.

 

Pardue’s first class was Introduction to Hospitality, which featured a lot of history – more than she wanted to know.

 

However, the next class was special events oriented, and Pardue suddenly felt right at home.

 

She spent evenings as well as Saturday and Sunday afternoons sitting alongside her then-high school senior daughter doing homework. And when her study-buddy went off to college last fall, Pardue picked up the pace.

 

“I decided to enroll full-time since I was in the homestretch,” Pardue said. “And with (my daughter) being gone, it filled the gap.”

 

Most of those classes were online, but two were in-person classes, which pushed Pardue into new territory.

 

One of them was serving food at a fine dining establishment in downtown Indianapolis. In addition to the standard class work, she had hands-on real-life training where she worked in various “front of house roles” that included host, server and manager on duty.

 

The other, in Bloomington, was a culinary class in which the final project was preparing a full meal. Pardue’s featured fried chicken, rice pilaf and steamed asparagus – it was a hit.

 

“The really good thing that came out of this is seeing the other side of events,” she said. “I’m seeing the venue’s perspective, the food and beverage perspective, then I see the hospitality perspective from doing my internship at Homewood Suites in Bloomington.”

 

After completing a certain number of hours at the hotel, Pardue will fulfill the requirements for her MFP, Manage First Professional designation, a restaurant and hospitality certification. Within this program, she has already earned certificates in Human Resources, Customer Service, Controlling Food Costs and Purchasing as well as her ServSafe Food Protection Manager credential.

 

It certainly gave her a different view of things when Hoosier Energy had to cancel its annual meeting at French Lick Resort due to dangerous storms this spring.

 

“I was able to understand the sales perspective and what that meant for French Lick,” she said. “It also makes it easier to negotiate future contracts, knowing what perspective they’re coming from and knowing where they’re at.”

 

A surprising amount of her schoolwork dovetailed with Pardue’s work for Hoosier Energy. In particular, her planning for Electrify Indiana 2024 also served as part of a 58-page school project, making what she was learning in school more hands-on and real-world relevant.

 

When it was all said and done, Pardue got a chance to do something this spring that she didn’t do for her first degree – walk for graduation.

 

“For my accounting degree, I was at that age where I just wanted to be done and get on with life,” she said. “I looked at school a lot differently this time. It was from a project basis or an employment basis. Just like if I was doing a project for Hoosier, I’d give it my all, and that’s what I did in my classes as well.”

 

It showed as Pardue graduated with honors, holding an average score of 97 in her classes. Her success in the classroom reflected how much she enjoyed going back to school and how much she felt like it helped her do her job better.

 

As for what’s next?

 

“You are never too old to learn,” Pardue said.

 

She plans to continue learning by studying for the CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) exam, an international designation that recognizes expertise in the meeting and events industry. It demonstrates knowledge of logistics, event planning and industry best practices.

 

“Even before I started taking classes, I said that I don’t like to just plan meetings,” Pardue said. “I like to create experiences. I want things to be memorable. You know when people walk away, I want them to just feel good about the event. I want it to have some wow factor and to tie it all together. All the little details make a lot of difference.”

 

And so does more than three decades between degrees.