Case Study

Desislava Vodenicharova

BA (Hons) International Tourism and Hospitality Management (Top-Up)

Desislava has been expanding her passion for tourism and hospitality by becoming very actively involved in the life of the University. Alongside her undergraduate degree in International Tourism and Hospitality Management (Top-Up), she’s been the President of the Travel and Tourism Society, is an intern in the University’s events department and holds down a job in marketing. She tells us about what motivates her.

I’ve been passionate about travel since I was little. The University helped me develop and grow my ideas about what I could do with that passion.

“From before my classes started, I knew I wanted to get really involved in the life of the University. I got in touch with Tina from the Events team to see what kinds of things I could do and found the Travel and Tourism society. She was really helpful and gave me the support I needed to achieve what I wanted with the society.

When it came up, I jumped at the opportunity to apply for the Events internship. I was so happy to get it! It is a bit strange going from being a student to an intern. I feel like I’m stepping up to the next level. My days are filled with thinking about how I can help improve the student experience. It’s wonderful because I get to develop my own ideas. But it can be a lot. At one point last term I did have a bit of an energy crash with all the stuff I do. But I got a lot of support from the staff here and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Before I came here, I did a Higher National Diploma (HND) in travel and tourism management. That meant I could top-up to a full degree with my course. It’s been great because I get to focus on the stuff I’m really interested in, like eco-tourism and sustainability. The modules are very practical and include loads of transferable skills. That means you can use them in your daily life, not just in your career. I’m finishing my degree in April and I’ve loved my experience here. I’d definitely recommend it to others.

I’m really grateful to the University for all the support and motivation they’ve given me.“

Any student at the University can join our societies. If you can’t find the one you’re looking for, why not start it yourself? Get in touch with our Student Engagement team at student.engagement-london@sunderland.ac.uk to find out more.

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