I am Mikaela Yurukova, an undergraduate Tourism Management student, completing my second year in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Bournemouth University. My passion for personal development, learning about different cultures, languages and travelling, as well as helping other people in any way I can are the main things that have been keeping me going. I always take as many opportunities as possible and like to challenge myself. I am seriously committed to student life and this is why I was elected as a Student Rep by my fellow course mates, PAL Leader by my first year tutor and Student Ambassador by the Student Union for the academic year 2015-2016.

Apart from studying hard I am passionate about sports and arts – particularly music, dancing and drama, which is why I was a member of the Performing Arts Society for the year 2014-2015. We worked hard and we performed the ‘Loserville’ musical for four consecutive days. My competitiveness and confidence, strive for success and improvement, as well as passion for team work, got me a place in the Table Tennis Varsity team for 2015-2016 where we were competing with university teams on a national level.

In terms of helping people, I have volunteered for different causes and events, held flat viewings at Purbeck House and I was also a member of the Welcome Crew in September 2015. I was also a proud member of Interact Club Plovdiv-Philippopol back in Bulgaria, a club which is part of the Rotary International family and was involved in numerous volunteer projects. After I come back from my placement, I am planning on joining the Rotaract club here in Bournemouth.

Naturally it took a lot of research to find the right placement for me. So I landed my dream placement at Norwegian Cruise Line and I am starting very soon for my placement year. My experiences at work and at Bournemouth University, doing all those activities and life in general have taught me to be confident and not to be afraid to challenge myself. The whole application process did not take long at all as I applied in April, the assessment day was on 20 April and the very next day I received an offer for the position I wanted  in the Air Planning Department, to be a Junior Help Desk Air Planning Coordinator. I expect this to be a very demanding role, considering the great attention required to monitor bookings, flights, trend changes and figures, as well as building connections and having control over communication and perhaps marketing of the company.

At first I was unsure whether this would be the right placement for me, as until then I was only applying to work at hotels or events companies with completely different expectations. I was probably influenced by what most of my course mates were going to do for their placements. A talk at uni about Bournemouth Airport really gave me an insight and increased my understanding, together with previous knowledge from lectures. This motivated me even more to take this opportunity. After a short communication with the company to clear up any contract details, I decided that this position is really what I want to do and I am so glad I got it. I very much hope it will teach me so much about the industry, I will be able to put all the knowledge and skills into use and be appreciated for it, as well as improve and develop myself. I accepted their offer a few days after the assessment day and now I am extremely excited and looking forward to starting my placement and moving to Southampton.

By Mikaela Yurukova