Ciara Enright, our US and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) Ambassador, shares why she feels Event Management with Public Relations at GMIT is the perfect course. Her reasons include everything from a place to be creative to embracing Galway as her new home…
So, you’re thinking about coming to Ireland to further your education. First of all, way to go! Ireland is an absolutely lovely country to study in for a multitude of reasons. Many American students want to travel to Europe at some stage in their college career, and as a modern, English-speaking country, Ireland is one of the best to choose from. Aside from the convenience factor, Ireland has so much character to offer. Personally, I’ve fallen in love with the charming villages, the friendly people, the superb nightlife, and the astounding beauty that Ireland’s wildlife bestows.
Ireland is a wonderful place if you like to get to know people and you like to get involved in your community. It’s also an especially great place to study if you’re interested in the tourism and hospitality industry, as tourism is the centre of Ireland’s economy. This is one of the main reasons why I chose Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology to study Event Management with Public Relations, but I was also looking for a course in which I could get involved while expressing my creativity.
Before I came to Ireland, I knew that I wanted to study event management. I looked into a few colleges before making a decision, but I’m definitely glad that I chose GMIT. Here are just some of the reasons…
Small class sizes
One thing I love about my course is that I’m never sitting in huge lecture halls with 300 other students. The class sizes in most courses at GMIT are small (about 20-40 students), which makes it easy to get to know your fellow classmates and lecturers. I’ve also found that it makes the classroom feel more relaxed, creating an environment in which adding to discussions and communicating with your lectures feels easy and comfortable. We tend to get assigned a lot of group projects, so getting to know everyone on a personal basis comes in handy!
Develop your business skills
One thing that is important to note, is that first and foremost, this is a business course. While you do learn a lot about the events industry and how to run events, you also develop the fundamental business skills that you can apply to any career. One of my personal favourite aspects of this course has been learning about Public Relations, but the course also includes modules in Law, Accounting, and other important subjects in business. In truth, these might not be the most entertaining courses (don’t tell my lectures I said so!), but they are highly valuable in any career. Overall, this course is great if you want to get in the events industry, but it’s also great if you want to develop a business skillset that you can take with you anywhere.
Work placement
The Event Management Course at GMIT is a three year, level 7 course, with the option to complete a 4th year in either Business or Hotel Management. What’s great is that part of the course includes a 6 month work placement going into your third year. Internships are crucial in getting valuable experience in your chosen industry, so I appreciate that one is imbedded into the curriculum. GMIT has a work-placement office and staff that will help you find what suits you.
One word: Galway!
I cannot express just how glad I am that I chose Galway to study. Galway is the perfect city for students, and you’ll find plenty of us in town. I find that it’s one of those cities that’s neither too big nor too small, and there’s always something going on. Between pub crawls, workshops, festivals, charity events, and even Hipster Bingo (yeah, that’s a real thing!), there is never a shortage of things to do and activities to get involved with; which of course makes it the perfect place to study events management. It’s the perfect place to step out into the industry and network! Galway was also chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2020, which further explains why there is always so much to do in this wonderful city!
To conclude… if you’re a creative, energetic, and outgoing person, I think you’ll love studying at GMIT! Galway is the perfect city to nourish your creativity and offers many opportunities to get involved in both the school and community. This course will leave you with invaluable business skills and knowledge about the events industry, as well as give you some of the best years of your life!
If you want to know more about the BB Event Management course with Public Relations, check out GMIT’s website.