BA (Hons) Modern Languages (Spanish) for International Business, 2nd year student
I enrolled at the University of Central Lancashire after attending an open day and speaking with two tutors who really stood out to me, having previously left a course at another university. In addition, having looked at the Worldwise Centre and the language labs, I was immediately attracted to the environment and fantastic facilities, including a dedicated study space for language students.
I had studied Spanish since the age of fourteen although I’d never studied business. In the first year, the international business aspect of my course is at beginners’ level – ideal for those who have not previously studied business.
Furthermore, having spoken with an international business tutor at the open day, I was immediately interested by what the course had to offer in terms of a dynamic and diverse variety of topics and assessment. I also knew I wanted more than a pure language degree.
Languages 'attractive to employers'
In my second year, I took a Spanish for Business module and this enabled me to take the skills and theory I had learnt in year one and translate them to Spanish. I also learnt about business etiquette, norms and vital business knowledge in Spanish. My two subjects, which I had previously been studying in parallel, began to intertwine and I thought this would be really unique and attractive to employers.
Currently I am on my period abroad studying History at the University of Murcia, Spain. I am really enjoying it so far (not just the sun) but also the people I am meeting; living away from home independently in a city and trying to integrate myself in the Spanish language and culture. Definitely try and study abroad if you can, I am really enjoying it.
Placements and internship
During one of my recent placements, I was interning at the JD Sports Fashion headquarters in the legal department. I learnt so much about the functions of an in-house law firm, with a specific focus on commercial and corporate law. The lawyers would sit down with me and talk me through the task they were giving me and as time progressed, the tasks I was doing became of higher importance. At the beginning, I helped to file the trademark certificates in a spreadsheet, thus learning about the different types of trademarks, the different countries JD operates in and the specificity of copyright law. Moreover, I sat in on meetings with other companies, such as Klarna and international skype calls with JD’s subsidiaries in eastern Europe.
I also made an accessible and easy to understand presentation based on social media influencers for the marketing and social media teams. For this task, one of the lawyers told me about the Advertising Standards Agency and let me carry out my own research before doing the presentation. I absolutely loved my placement – I did not want to leave! I have been invited back to intern again this summer and I plan on going back because the experience was invaluable. Following my placement, I had a better idea of what commercial and corporate law consisted of and I have now decided to pursue a law-conversion course in London after my degree.
The case of a lost pencil case
The university is a friendly place – I remember in my first year when I lost my pencil case. I was really annoyed and tried looking for it in the classroom and everywhere else I had been that day and I could not find it. A week later, I had the same class, and when I went in the classroom my pencil case was on the table! A post-it note was attached which read “I am from the next class after you. You left your pencil case in this room here last week. Sorry I kept it, but I had no other way of finding you, but I know you’re in the class before.”
Using the Worldwise centre for studying
One of my tips would be to use the Worldwise centre, whether it be for individual or group study. They have computers, books, a printer – and it is always less busy than the library. The library is great as well though because the desks are really big so you can spread your books out.