Evelina's Story: Why I chose to study International Management
Final year student, Evelina reflects on her WBS experience and shares her key highlights, including her year abroad which she describes as the best time of her life.
My name is Evelina, and I am approaching the end of my final year as a BSc International Management student at WBS. Why did I choose this path? Let’s start from the beginning and look back at my journey from an indecisive Lithuanian high school student to a soon-to-be graduate.
Picture this: you have little knowledge about university life, your high school path involved everything from extended History to ending up being the only girl in Physics class. You really want to attend university but you need some more time to explore different paths as you don’t know exactly what you want to do. That was me.
The position of Warwick Business School
The first thing I did was check the ranking of the universities I wanted to apply to. WBS is one of Europe’s leading business schools, and it is ranked as one of the top 10 universities in the UK for Business & Management studies. It is also a member of PIM Partner Schools, which gives you more opportunities and varieties for your year abroad.
Diverse and international cohorts
In addition to that, it was extremely important for me to thrive and engage in an international community. Over one-third of the students at the University of Warwick come from outside the UK, with more than 40 nationalities in my cohort. I learnt so much from students who come from different cultures and backgrounds, which also influenced my decision to work abroad after graduating. Being taught by academics from all over the world has helped me build a global network of supportive and brilliant people.
The versatility of the programme
As I wasn’t certain about what I wanted my future career to be, International Management was an excellent choice. The all-roundedness of this degree is remarkable – structure, flexibility and sufficient workload.
Structure: coming to the UK as an international student without any prior business knowledge and middling English language skills was definitely challenging. However, during my first year, all the modules were based on the fundamentals of different aspects of business (economics, business planning, statistics, marketing, finance, accounting and operations). This allowed me to immerse myself in this field at a slower pace as well as gain a better understanding of which particular areas I would want to focus on after my first year.
Flexibility: I then got a chance to pick elective modules and tailor my degree to my interests. This was a great chance to explore the fields I was interested in, thus, I mainly focused on AI and digital business, as well as quantitative modules and managerial/business economics. I have worked on many exciting projects covering, for example, the use of chatbots in businesses, influence of AI on fashion industries or developing my own start-up idea and analysing it from an economics perspective. Besides that, the programme allows you to pick some electives from other departments, which made me decide to undertake a Spanish course and I managed to improve my skills by two levels in only three years!
Sufficient workload: Given all the support and independent structure, I plan my studying very easily as the workload is not too heavy. Currently, I have around two hours of lectures and a one-hour seminar in smaller groups for every module per week. This was a very crucial aspect for me as I needed more independent studying due to the language barrier and lack of fundamental knowledge. I also managed to work part-time during my second and fourth year.
Year Abroad
The most exciting part and my reason for choosing this course was the opportunity to spend a year abroad. When looking at potential universities I was amazed by the long list of partner institutions that WBS had, so when it came to applying for my year abroad I decided to split my year abroad into two parts. For the first part, I wanted to go somewhere outside Europe, and for the second part, I chose a European country to further develop my foreign language skills. Thus, I went to the University of South Carolina in the US, followed by ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.
My year abroad was definitely the best time of my life. I decided to pick different modules from those I had studied at WBS, so I focused on Fashion Management, Anthropology, Marketing Management and Human Resources. Besides that, it also gave me an opportunity to join societies and undertake volunteering in those countries which further enhanced my CV. I will also never forget the experience of attending American football games, Spanish carnivals and making friends all over the world.
I really could not recommend this course enough! My mindset now is completely different, and I have so many ideas that I can’t wait to bring to life. The BSc International Management course at WBS offers you an exceptional academic experience, a tailored programme to your interests and the opportunity to spend a year in a completely different environment.
Discover more about Evelina’s year abroad by viewing her Instagram takeover.