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A Jenkintown Borough booming with a diversity of restaurants, shops, and ample parking. It’s certainly a vision the businesses of Jenkintown would like to become a reality; the question is how.
Katharina Bruehl may have a few answers for them. As the spring semester at Temple University Ambler wound down, she and her team of ten Marketing Research students (she was team captain) were diligently tromping from place to place in Jenkintown to find out the opinions of shop owners as to how to make the borough a more attractive destination.
“The project, which the whole class worked on, was broken up into categories. Our category was restaurants — there are some very nice restaurants and, then again, there are some not so nice,” she said. “The major objective was to determine how to attract more people to the borough. One of the primary issues was parking.”
Recommendations among the restauranteurs and other business owners suggested that more signage was necessary to direct customers to on-street and public parking. A multi-level parking facility close to Old York Road wouldn’t hurt either. The business owners would also like a unified forum to promote Jenkintown as a whole. The Marketing 210 class, taught by Adjunct Marketing Instructor Henry Meil, will subsequently pass on their final analysis to Moira Shaughnessy, Executive Director of the Jenkintown Community Alliance.
“Of 21 restaurants, 11 filled out the survey that we had developed. It’s a busy time of year and people tend to be allergic to surveys in general,” Kat said of the experience. “A project like this is definitely beneficial. It’s hands-on, there’s a final outcome, and maybe some good will come out of it for the borough.”
While juggling school, work, extra-curricular responsibilities, and the difficulties of being thousands of miles away from home, Kat learned an important lesson this year — don’t try to take the weight of the world on your shoulders alone.
“I learned how to delegate work. Trying to do everything myself without ever asking for help wasn’t very efficient,” she said. “I’ve made so many contacts here on campus, especially through the student organizations. I thought I knew a lot of people before, but this has been a surprising year.”
While Kat prepared for finals in such diverse classes as International Trade and Weight Training and presented a “Negotiation Action Plan” for the Italian Delight restaurant in Allentown — a final project for her Power of Negotiation class — she still managed to devote a great deal of time to community service.
“One of the main things AMA (the American Marketing Association) focused on this semester was raising money for the March of Dimes and WalkAmerica 2004. We teamed up with the Brothers and Sisters United (BSU) student organization and were able to raise $1,200 through everything from a ‘Bachelor Auction’ to bake sales,” said Kat, who is president of the Ambler campus chapter of the AMA. “The Bachelor Auction was extremely popular; the Horsham Inn, where we held it, was packed. We auctioned off 20 guys — well, a date with them, not the guys themselves.”
A bidding war resulted in one bachelor going for a whopping $225.
“That was by far the highest. The next was $65,” Kat said. “And it wasn’t just Ambler people bidding. Everyone at the Horsham Inn that night got caught up in it.”
The AMA/BSU juggernaut was the top fundraising team from the Ambler campus for this year’s WalkAmerica event, held on campus on April 25. According to event organizers, walkers at the Ambler location were able to raise well above the goal of $80,000 this year.
In addition to WalkAmerica, Kat and her friends paid a visit to the Pi Phi sorority’s 24-hour dance marathon, which raised money for the Special Olympics. The AMA chapter also took part in the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity’s annual charity 24-hour volleyball marathon, which benefited the Special Olympics as well. Kat is happy to report that the AMA won two out of three games.
On April 22, Earth Day, the AMA teamed up with the Ambler Student Government Association to co-sponsor a booth promoting recycling to the thousands of young students that visited Temple University Ambler EarthFest 2004. No one could have guessed that tossing a plastic bottle into a recycling bin could result in lines 20-30 children long.
“It was busy the entire time. They were great kids and it was just a lot of fun for them and us,” Kat said. “EarthFest was much larger than we ever expected it would be and very well organized. I don’t think there has ever been an event to that extent on campus before. It was great to help out and a nice opportunity for the group to be a part of something like that.”
Not willing to take a breather, Kat also participated in the annual Spring Open House, giving prospective students some insight into the importance of the student professional organizations and networking opportunities; jousted at Spring Fling; and bravely stepped up to the plate during the Students vs. Staff Softball Tournament with little to no previous experience at ever trying to hit one out of the park.
During this year’s Student Leadership Banquet, an event to honor the efforts of students involved in Ambler’s student organizations, Kat received recognition for her involvement throughout the year. She was presented with a Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges Award during the 13th annual event.
During the summer months, Kat intends to finish up her Independent Study program, with the hopes of graduating at the end of the fall semester. She also plans to make a return visit to Germany to visit with her newest niece or nephew, who will have hopefully have made their entrance into the world by then.
“There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll soon start looking for a job for my Optional Practical Training, which is a program available for international students,” she said. “After graduation we’ll have to see what companies are interested in me. I intend to look closely at companies that have an international aspect. In the very long run, I think I’d like to go back to Germany to be close to my family.”
And the final lesson of this year?
“Learning how to deal with people in a professional way both inside and outside of the classroom. It’s a skill everyone needs to develop,” she said. “I think you also need to have some measure of fun in whatever you do. I love interacting with people and if you have some skill at it, it helps in so many other aspects of your life that you might not expect.”
This is the fourth part of an “A Year in the Life” feature on Katharina Bruehl. Kat, originally from Leina, Germany, entered her senior year studying International Business Administration at Temple University Ambler at the time of the series.
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