This document discusses why the author chose to study at Bournemouth University. It provides details about the university, including that it has around 18,000 students across six schools. The author found their ideal research topic and supervisors at Bournemouth University. Some of the top reasons the author loves studying there include the great city of Bournemouth, the brilliant community, and the wonderful opportunities. The university provides excellent facilities, support through clubs and societies, and opportunities to present at events and travel.
My name is Zory, I am originally from Bulgaria.and I am currently doing my PhD at the School of Tourism at Bournemouth.
I have been studying at BU now for the last 2 years and a half. I am very excited to be with you today and I wanted to share how I selected BU and my experience so far.
And from all universities in the UK, I really liked Bournemouth University.
Learning process directly from the students, not only from the Bitish students, but also from the other students; cultural experience; Previously in the Netherlands, I was studying in a faculty where we only had access to students from the same department. So it was important for me to be able to communicate and be among students from different cultures and with different backgrounds.
Speaking a bit from experience…when I finished my Bachelor and Master degrees, I did this in two excellent universities, but they both did not have links with the industry. The link with the industry – I wanted to study and do research in a professional unversity instead of purely researchuniversity; and this creates more opportunities;
Probably the most important factor for you as well – the University has to offer a degree in the area that I wanted to specialize. For me, this is the design of mobile geospatial technologies for tourists – this is very rare and very special. At the time, BU offered the exact topic I wanted to study. Best of all – it was taught by world-wide famous experts in the field. Don’t be fooled, it was a long process of selecting the right university…The university is very prestigeous; and it offered me exactly what I wanted to study; I did a lot of research to look at different universities in the UK and Europe;
This is why I decided to apply for the position. The application process is similar to the applicatin process for a Masters; It is a very competitive process - The CV – where you describe your qualifications, any certificates you have obtained or work experience. Because you are master studetns you do not need the interview, but still you need to explain in the personal statement why you want to study, what skills you have and what you want to do in the future;
And now being here for more than 2 and half years, I know every day that I made the right choice and that this was completely worth it.
Now, normally when I talk about this, I can go about this for hours (ask my friends), but because I only have limited time now, I had to narrow it down and select the four main reasons why I love my experience here.
Of course the place is a huge part of studying…and comparing Bournemouth with the other 5 places and countries I have lived in, it is probably the best.
Have you been in BU? Oh…you know abt the good weather already! Bournemouth is a touris resort and this is why – atracts hundreds of tourists every year; famous;
Did I mention that it is on the beach? Among ourselves, we call Bournemouth the Miami of the UK. It has this very special atmosphere and palm trees everywhere. I was really impressed with that.
When I first moved into Bournemouth, I decided to stay in the student dormitory. The uni has different accomodation options for the students – private landlord and student accommodation;
British food has very reporutation, and there are also many international restaurants and plenty of other options; Add pictures for the university and explain the faciites there for food; the Reatreat and that it is managed by students;
Of course, international food became part of my daily life because I have lived with so many international students and we often cook together.
Apart from a very high living standard in the city itself, the University also offers great facilties.
It won an award; built in 2003 and a few years later it won an award of best service library team; there are always people to help you carrying the ? T-shirt; ensuring that the ppl are students’
Equipment and facilities;zumba and the other options; climbing wall; basktball court; voleyball; aerobics; yoga and other types; and it’s cheap!
Of course, it is not only the facilities that are important (for me of course this was very important, coming in from a Bulgarian University). What I think is even more important are the people around you.
What I really like about the university is that it creates many opportunities to be part of something bigger – to be part of the community. For instance…
We constantly organize ourselves events – and here these are photos from random events that we organize ourselves…not time to get bored when you are at Uni…
…because there are so many opportunities that the University creates.
I have now presented to more than 15 very special world-wide and local events, such as seminars, conferences and workshops. I like this because it means that I got to know some very important people, but also it polishes what we call transferable skills – presenting, communicating with others, networking, working with others – these skills you will also practice during your Masters, all of which are really important whatever job you start.
And these skills they also look great on your CV. Opportunities to get rewarded when you work had; they value my work and I can put all of these in my cv and I wll become more employable; my work has been recognized
At the ENTER conference I won a first prize for my PhD research, which means that the research that we do at the University is internationally recognized.
This goes back to what I told you before – it is very important the school has connections with the industry and is already present at such world-wide famous events. Това е едно събитие на което всяка страна представя туристическите си продукти. Също всяка година е посещавано от близо 5000 индустриални компании, с над 50 000 представителя. Тази година узастваха 189 държави и за мен беше изкл. Голяма чест да представя изследванията си пред толкова голяма и интересна публика.The school organises a bus to take the students to the WTM; which is hosted at London and attracs more than …very good opportunity if you want to work in international companies; just to get the contact detials and to learn who they are; The school of T.
За мен едно от изкл. Важните събития беше The World Travel Market – това е едно от най-големите събития в света на туризма. Това е едно събитие на което всяка страна представя туристическите си продукти. Също всяка година е посещавано от близо 5000 индустриални компании, с над 50 000 представителя. Тази година узастваха 189 държави и за мен беше изкл. Голяма чест да представя изследванията си пред толкова голяма и интересна публика. So it was a huge honour to present my research at the WTM in front of an audience of more than 300 people. And this is something that we organised ourselves.
Such as many other things, like the BU eTourism Lab – a student initiative, now it has connections with leading partners in the industry. This wouldn’t have been possibe if it wasn’t for the support we get from the school and the strong links with industry;
And of course, one of my biggest dreams came true, as I got to see so many places that I have never been to. And it is huge fun!
This is a party that we did in Sweden at ENTER and the theme for that was to be in an ABBA costume. There are many other theme parties that the students organise…
Of course, once you select the right University, when you have the right envrionment where there are plenty of opportunities around, what you make out of this experience is completely up to your imagination. Feel free to ask me any questions realted to living in Bournemouth, and more practical things. So I wish you good luck and I hope to see you here next year.