UCLan graduate Bernard Quinn has won a much-coveted accolade for excellence in postgraduate studies.The Association for Tourism in Higher Education chose Bernard to receive one of their awards for Best Postgraduate Student of Tourism 2014.
The award recognises outstanding academic excellence and achievement, and is given to students who have significantly excelled during the course of their programme.
After over a decade away from education, Bernard decided to enrol part-time on our International Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management Master's course. He says he struggled to adapt to the demands of postgraduate study.
"I started my Master's degree in September 2012, but initially found it to be a real shock to the system," said Bernard.
"For fourteen years I'd done very little in an academic sense. I worked full-time, got married and had two children. Given how rusty I was, I still cringe about the first assignment I wrote. My style of writing was so poor and needed a lot of work."
After seeking help from UCLan's WISER Study Skills Support team Bernard's writing improved, and two years later he was awarded a first for a piece of coursework - an assignment he found challenging but enjoyable.
Bernard currently works at UCLan as a Student Recruitment Officer, but is considering a career change now he's achieved his Master's. He said: "I'm thinking about a number of options such as teaching, applying for people-based management roles or even working for myself.
"In January I set myself a New Year's resolution to write a business plan for becoming a freelance customer service consultant. Ideas like these would be very difficult to achieve without my Master's."
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