Sarah Kavanagh
Age: 24
Country: Ireland
NMIT course: Diploma of Tourism (Operations Management)

Tell us about yourself.
I am 24 years old and was born in Co. Cork Ireland and moved to Australia 5 years ago. I love to travel and have been right around the world. I even got to live in the jungle in Ecuador. After all my travelling I came to Melbourne, I never planned to stay here but after 6 months I felt at home and that I had always lived in Melbourne. The city was strong enough to control my travelling bug after 15 years of travelling. I love being surrounded by so many cultures in one place. I hope that more people will begin to appreciate how lucky we really are in Australia. I love music mainly hip hop and international music. I live to bring a little sunshine into everyone’s life including mine and share my Irish charm and luck.

What influenced you to study hospitality and cookery at NMIT?
My aim was to study marketing but the course was not available until later in the year. The staff at the international office was so helpful. They sat with me and helped me look at courses that would lead into marketing and tourism was the one. I studied Certificate III in Tourism Operations for 6 months and I fell in love with the course and began to visual a different future.

How did you find out about NMIT?
I found out about NMIT on the internet and got feedback from students who had studied and NMIT. I had visited many tafe’s and did not feel at home until I looked at NMIT.

What advice would you give to students considering studying hospitality and cookery at NMIT?
Tourism is a well rounded course which can offer you many avenues to go down. You do not need to have traveled around the world to study this course. The subjects cover every aspect of the tourism industry. The dual diploma is excellent as it covers both operational and event management. This gives you a lot of choices for future employment. You do not realize the opportunities you get from studying tourism at NMIT from a learning to a hands on volunteer environment.

What is next for you?
I realized after a year and a half studying in the Dual Diploma Event Management that I want to pursue the media world. My plan is to do either a one year degree or a two year diploma in Public Relations. This will give me an open view of the media world and then I want to combine this with my events background. After all of the learning my plan is to open my own event media company who will solely deal with events. These are my future plan who knows what the future will hold for Irish Sarah.

What's been the most valuable lesson you've learnt along the way?
The most valuable lesson that I learnt so far is that as an International student life can be hard but never stop following your dreams. If you like a course do not stop finish to the end as you will always wonder what is around the corner. Research is the key to success and never be afraid to ask someone who is studying that course or who can help you with their experiences whilst living here in Australia.