Student gears up for future career thanks to cycling event
The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships recently came to its conclusion on the streets of Glasgow but many across the city are still feeling its positive impact.
Included in that are the Champs Clan, the colourful team of 4000 volunteers who played a key role in the delivery of the sporting mega-event between August 3rd and August 9th.
MSc International Tourism and Events Management student Bukola Mustapha was one of those involved and found herself at the heart of the action after only arriving in Scotland at the start of the year.
“I wanted an opportunity to positively impact myself when I came here from Nigeria,” explained Bukola.
“Shout-out to my course lecturers Dr Sunitha Haneef and Nick Davies, who emailed us about the chance to get involved in the Championships. Once I decided to go for it, the process was very simple. All I had to do was write out 500-words explaining why I wanted to volunteer.
“I knew this would be a great opportunity to gain experience working with other people. I also wanted to expand my network and basically just experience my first big event volunteering.”
After being successful in the application process, Bukola quickly found herself involved in Glasgow’s biggest sporting event since the Commonwealth Games nine years ago.
She said: “My job was basically to randomly interview spectators and find out more about the people watching the Championships. I would go up and ask them if they wanted to take 10 minutes to answer a few short questions. I would find out things like where they were from, how old they were, if this was their first UCI event – basically quantitative research.
“Everyone was super nice – especially people from Glasgow. There were quite a lot of tourists from the likes of Italy and Belgium, so it was interesting to hear about their passion for cycling and their thoughts on the city.”
Bukola added: “It was the perfect role for me because I like getting to know people – it makes me happy. Asking questions and just seeing people smiling back meant a lot and gave me a lot of satisfaction.”
Working at the event has inspired Bukola to continue her personal and professional development.
She explained: “The whole experience of getting to watch it all unfold was really nice because it was my first ever UCI event. Most times the events that come to cities are things like concerts, so it was amazing to see the joy that sport can bring and how much it is loved here in Scotland. It’s actually led me to apply to volunteer at the Olympics next year.
“Aside from the entertainment part, events like this also help make people fit because you can see it really inspiring everyone that was watching. It’s made me want to get outside and do more when it comes to my fitness.”
Bukola added: “It’s been a different experience being involved, but that’s the great thing about tourism and events management: there are so many different things to see and places to experience.
“I would encourage other students to get involved in big events, no matter what they are studying. It’s a good way to talk to different people from a range of backgrounds and it really builds your confidence. It also opens doors for the future because people are always happy to give you a reference if you make the right impression.”
Find out more about the MSc International Tourism and Events Management programme here
By Ross Clark
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter