Case Study

Elena Ichim

BA (Hons) Business and Management


Elena Ichim is a BA (Hons) Business and Management at the University of Sunderland in London with a passion for nails. She tells us how her decision to apply for her course is giving her the tools she needs to make her dreams a reality.

I’m already very proud of my course. My dream was to have an international degree, and here we are!

“I came to the UK five years ago having no idea what I would like to do with my life.

I ended up working in a warehouse for a short time until that is, I discovered my passion – nail art.

I’ve just finished five-years of Nail Technician courses and, with the knowledge I’ve learned, I want my future to be in this industry.

I love what I am doing, but I’d like to take my passion to the next level with a higher education degree.

When I start researching what universities I could apply to, the University of Sunderland in London caught my attention right away.

Before I applied, I did a lot of research about the lecturers. I read how professional they are and just saw the best reviews.

That’s probably the main reason I chose the University of Sunderland in London.

Alongside my love for the cosmetics industry, I have another passion - business.

I know a lot of students on my course talk about running their own companies, but I don’t just want to have my work and that’s it.

I’d like to join the business world being the best and compete with the giants.

That’s one of the reasons I like my course.

I’m not just learning how to put my business ideas into practice, I’m finding out how to grow them, how to navigate a competitive market, how to manage the company and the people who will work for me.

In my view, it’s not just about having a job and making money.

Becoming an entrepreneur is an amazing world of opportunity that can lift you up to be one of the top people in your industry.

I’m already very proud of my course. My dream was to have an international degree, and here we are!

I am on my way, studying at an amazing University.

The best advice I got before starting the course is the same thing I’d like to say to any prospective student thinking about studying here: we need to create a better life for ourselves, something which we can do with a higher degree.

The University of Sunderland in London offers all the conditions and support you could hope for.

At first, I was happy being at home for online courses, but with time, I must confess that I’ve been missing the physical human interactions university students usually benefit from.

Studying online creates a few obstacles that wouldn’t exist if we were on campus; happily meeting and chatting with our lecturers and colleagues in classrooms.

But that being said, I was surprised by how much effort the academics put into helping us understand the information even under difficult circumstances.

I can’t wait to go back to our normal lives, to meet my lecturers and the students in person.

I want us to learn new things from each other and to share our experiences and thoughts.

Until then, I’ll enjoy our online interactions, because, as I said, everyone is trying their best to make our life easier and to get through this together.”

Want to follow in Elena’s footsteps? Take a look at our Business, Management and Finance courses today.

You can also book a personal consultation or register your interest to find out more about studying at the University of Sunderland in London.

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