Air bound ambition for Gabija

Gabija Malkeviciute (20), progressed to SERC following her GCSEs at Dromore High School, having decided that a course at college would be more suited to her than the A-Level route.

Having successfully completed the Level 2 in Travel and Tourism, she progressed to Level 3 in Travel and Tourism and then took a gap year where she worked in retail. Gabija was keen to progress to higher education and returned to SERC to complete an HNC in International Travel and Tourism Management. Gabija said, “I found out about the courses at SERC through my own school and we also had someone come into school to give us a talk on what was available at SERC. I went along to an open day to find out more and I applied to Travel and Tourism.

She continued, “It was really easy to settle in as everyone in my class was friendly and the tutors were great.   I have loved being able to progress at SERC through the travel and tourism courses.   I am learning all the time and although it is the same subject area you are learning at a deeper level as you progress and building on your knowledge."

"My ambition was to secure a position with an airline as cabin crew.  I did apply for a few jobs during my gap year but wasn’t successful so decided to come back and study at a higher level.   However, coming back has given me new avenues to explore as I am also interested in events management and marketing which we study as part of the course."

“I am considering progressing to study the HND but at the minute, I am inclined to secure a role in the tourism industry.   I like to travel and I like to be doing things so I will be applying for different positions. Last year, I took part in a fully funded Turing Scheme study and placement visit to Tenerife, which was a fantastic experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it.   We undertook a project on marketing tourism where we had to develop a website, a social presence and present our findings.   It was a great way to fully immerse yourself in digital marketing and I got to meet and work with students from different campuses across SERC.   Overall, it was a brilliant opportunity and an experience that I will be able to include in my CV.”        

Find out more about studying travel and tourism at SERC.   Apply now for programmes starting September 2024.