Management MRes

“I want to work as a researcher at a university in Japan one day, but to do that it was essential for me to gain a relevant postgraduate qualification, both at Masters and PhD level. Coming from Japan, I knew I wanted to study in an English-speaking country, to improve my English and benefit from the quality of teaching here. I considered going to London but thought it would be too busy for me, and Exeter offered a quieter pace of life where I could focus more on my studies. I had also heard about the University being ranked very highly for student satisfaction.

I am studying an MRes in Management, following on from my Business undergraduate degree that I took in Japan. I am particularly interested in the area of tourism management and in how Japan’s regional towns can promote themselves to become more prosperous. One of my tutors Dr Joanne Connell is a specialist in film tourism, which looks at how towns or regional areas use films as a way to attract people to visit them. I already had an interest in this subject so was very pleased to find an expert in this field teaching on my course. I am now hoping to be able to work with Joanne on my film tourism dissertation.

The course I am doing is largely a research-based one, so I do a lot of work on my own. I try to make time to get to the gym on campus and to visit the city centre at the weekend, to give me some breathing space. That said, my priority is to study as much as I can, and the environment and learning community is very much centred on helping you to learn and develop your knowledge and areas of interest. My plan is to go on to do a PhD next so I am looking forward to building on the research I am doing this year and taking that to the next stage.

If I can offer some advice to other students considering this course, I would say that it is a good idea to think about what subject or theme you want to specialise in for your dissertation – that can give you a head-start when you get here. Apart from that, prepare yourself for climbing lots of hills – Exeter is a very beautiful, but very hilly, place!”