Rebecca (Becky) Raph-Bowie


Major

Event Management, Tourism and Hospitality

Degree(s) earned at UCF and year degree(s) was/were conferred

B.S. Event Management (2013). Currently enrolled in the M.S. program for Hospitality & Tourism Management.

Employer

Dignity Memorial; Orlando Florida and The Orlando Magic (Orlando, FL)

What do you do and how long have you been doing it?

Licensed Funeral Director, Location Manager of two locations and Funeral Director in Training Coordinator for Florida. I have been with Dignity Memorial since May 2013.

In what ways are you involved in the community outside of work?

I am on the committee for the “Walk for Wishes” that benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central Florida. I am also on the Ronald McDonalds volunteer team in Lake Nona (new home to be opened early 2017).

Were you a transfer student? From what school? How would you describe your transition to UCF? What advice would you give students transferring to UCF?

I completed my Associateu2019s Degree at the State College of Florida in Venice, Florida in 2010. After graduating from SCF and being accepted into UCF, I moved to Central Florida. The transition from a state college to a university was easier than expected, and UCF was very welcoming and an exciting place to be when I arrived.

Did you work full or part time as a UCF student? How do you think this helped you when you were seeking a permanent position?

When I lived in the Venice area, I worked as a restaurant manager for a chain. When I moved to Central Florida, I was fortunate enough to be offered a transfer position at a location on I-92 in Kissimmee, Florida. I continued my management position full time, as well as being offered a part time position with the Orlando Magic in their new arena that opened in 2010. My work taught me a lot about organization and balance, and when I was ready to change careers, my past employment history set me up as a desirable applicant.

Are you working in the field of industry/business you thought you would? Is your career what you expected it would be? How is it different? How is it similar to what you expected?

When I started at UCF, I was working in restaurants, and restaurants were all I really knew. Although I could run a shift blindfolded, I wanted something greater. I wanted a career that was challenging, rewarding and ever changing. I had never dreamed of being in the death care industry, and never thought of it as part of hospitality or events. However, in 2013, in my last class at UCF, I met a dear friend named Jaynee. We started speaking about our career paths, and she informed me that she was a Funeral Director. I became very interested, and she invited me to shadow her and learn some more about the industry. Within the next few days, I had fallen in love with the career path she had chosen, and I saw how rewarding it was. I decided to leave the restaurant field and take a leap of faith. Within a month, I was hired at Dignity Memorial, and they had enrolled me in Mortuary School. I learned something new every day, and no two days were the same. I realized that being a funeral director was more related to events than I ever imagined. I compare it to being a wedding planner and having to organize all the same details; however, you have about two days to do it, multiple families at one time, and you have to arrange burial or cremation on top of the services. I love what I am doing, I love that it is very fast pace, incredibility versatile, and incredibly challenging.

What person or group had the biggest influence on you as a student? Why?

In my last year at UCF for my undergrad, I had the opportunity to take Professor Avery’s Risk Management course. Till this day, I find it the most useful and powerful class at UCF. I learned a massive amount about the industry and how to protect the people around me. There is not a week that goes by that I don’t think about some aspect that I learned from that class, and I am eternally grateful for it.

Previous Post

Next Post