Vickie

What were the best things about your course?

Modern Languages at Surrey was the perfect course for me and my interests, as I wanted a course that didn't focus on literature and reading lots of long, old texts. At Surrey, I studied modules in language for academic, professional and research purposes, as well as a choice of history, politics, culture and translation modules. This variety, and the lack of literature modules, was the perfect blend for me, combined with a real focus on employability throughout the entire course. 

My classes were all quite small, so the student-tutor ratio was very good and tutors provided lots of contact time.

What do you do now? How did your degree from Surrey help you achieve this?

I now work as the Tours Supervisor at the Royal Albert Hall, supervising a team of Tour Guides and supporting the day-to-day operations of the team. I occasionally work in an Artist Liaison capacity with our in-house team of Producers, where I work backstage during rehearsals and shows to take care of the performers and ensure the smooth running of the event. 

My degree from Surrey helps me at work by enabling me to put into practice the communication skills I learnt through my time at university, as well as the confidence I gained. 

Now, I can communicate with a wide variety of people, particularly as lots of our visitors are from overseas and have limited knowledge of English, so my foreign language knowledge is invaluable. I also completed a year abroad in Germany and Spain as part of my degree, and the independence and self-belief this gave me mean I am now confident to face any professional challenges and know that I can remain calm in a crisis. 

What’s your advice to current students?

If your degree has the option of doing a professional training year, I would thoroughly recommend that students make the most of this opportunity. 

As cliched as it sounds, my year abroad really was a formative year and one of the best of my life. 

A year or semester elsewhere gives a great insight into either a foreign university and student life abroad, or a professional working environment in a career or industry you are interested in joining after university. This experience is completely invaluable and makes you more confident going into final year. 

My advice would also be not to panic and to ask for help whenever you need it. Uni can be really challenging and overwhelming at times, but there is so much support out there and there is no shame in accessing such services. Make the most of every opportunity and work hard, but try to factor in time for socialising, rest and days to do something nice for yourself. Most of all, enjoy it!