HOW TRAVEL AND TOURISM AT SERC HELPED TURN WRITING FOR KICKS INTO CAREER FOR SAM

Local man Samuel Bridges (Sam), from Killyleagh, has been sharing how starting a course on Travel and Tourism @S_ERC (South Eastern Regional College or SERC) put him on the road to his dream career.

Sam, is a writer for Soccer 360 Magazine, the football magazine renowned amongst football fans across the world.   Usually based in England, Sam is working from the family home in Killyleagh during lockdown.  He said, “I started the BTEC National Diploma in Travel and Tourism at SERC in 2011, and I believe I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for the course and the lecturers I met at SERC. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and had no definite career plan, but I thought the Travel and Tourism course at SERC offered enough scope to lead into a number of different pathways that were of interest to me.

He added, “Outside College, my big interest was sport, particularly, football.   So at the time I was writing for Sunday Sport.   Because I was unqualified, the pay wasn’t great, but I did it because I loved it.  I think it was this passion that caught the eye of my lecturers at SERC. Mary Enright and Colm Toner, lecturers on the travel and tourism course, took a real interest in each student. They wanted to find out what we were doing outside the College so we could use it to build on everything we were learning inside.   It really was about encouraging us all to ‘package’ ourselves up for the next step, whether we were planning to move on to employment, further study or setting up our own businesses.   They believed everything was possible.  It was their encouragement that lead me to applying to the University of Bedfordshire for the BA in Sports Journalism – I didn’t even know such a course existed!   It was Mary who found it, brought it to my attention and encouraged me to apply.

“I got accepted onto the degree course and following that I had a spell with Milton Keynes Dons Football Club. After that I took up a post with Bedfordshire Blues Rugby Club.   From there I moved on to my present post with Tiromedia who own Soccer 360 Magazine which is based in Canada. I write about football from all over the world but mostly focus on Italian football.   I did write about Spanish football for a while and that lead to learning a bit of Spanish. I am a minority shareholder in a Spanish football club called Real Murcia.

When asked about his future plans Sam said, “The plan is to progress in the publication and possible make the move to Canada if the opportunity comes my way. He concluded, “The Travel and Tourism course at SERC has proved brilliant for me and I would encourage anyone who is thinking about going to the College to include it as one of their options.  There are so many different events and sectors which depend on travel and tourism and of course you and progress to university as well. It was a great programme which mixed classroom with study trips which were a lot of fun.   I met some of my best friends at SERC. 

“It’s been several years since I finished the course, but I keep in touch with the team and have been back to talk to students about my pathway. It is a great course and I would certainly recommend it.”

Apply now for courses commencing September 2020. For more information visit www.serc.ac.uk to find out how you could be #BetterOffAtSERC #OnlineAndOpenForBusiness Find us on Facebook, search SERC.

Caption:  Killyleagh man Sam Bridges, a writer for Soccer 360 Magazine, working from home during lockdown, shares how starting Travel and Tourism course at SERC helped turn a passion for sports writing into a career.