Fourth semester BBA student and former Senior Ambassador Victor Laursen on the challenges he faced and the opportunities he has been offered as a Glion student on our Bulle campus.

With ambitions to pursue a career in luxury brand management, Danish BBA student Victor Laursen is valuing the lessons he is learning as part of his program and while on campus in Bulle, Switzerland.

“I’ve really enjoyed working on group projects where overcoming challenges and finding solutions are vital and require research,” says Victor, one of Glion’s Senior Ambassador during his previous semester. “Teamwork is something I’m appreciating more and more during my time here.

“Cooperation is something that’s definitely helped me overcome some of the difficulties I’ve encountered on the program; in particular with topics where a higher level of math is required, such as rooms division management, accounting and statistics. Working with other like-minded, motivated students has made it much easier to deal with the challenges.”

Victor has appreciated the support not just of his fellow students but that he has received from faculty as well.

“Overall, I think the academic environment here is quite supportive. The lessons are pretty well structured on the whole, while some of our professors have a fantastic teaching style that makes it easy to comprehend what’s going on in class and highlights which aspects are important to know for assessments. I’ve found the courses they teach to be the most inspiring for me personally.

“One of these is the human resources topic we covered in semester 3. We had an outstanding professor and I believe that’s why it’s the one that inspired me the most and motivated me to study harder.”

A balanced approach

Victor has found the BBA program’s balance of theory and practical skills important to his overall learning experience.

“While theory has been the backbone of our studies, Glion has a clear mission to back that up with practice,” he says. “I actually think we’d benefit from even more practical application of theory in some cases.

“That said, I know we have the opportunity to put what has been learned in the classroom into practice during our internships. That’s also going to be really helpful in providing us with an introduction to the industry, those working in it and how it operates.”

It’s that kind of exposure combined with the program and his overall Glion experience that Victor believes will help him achieve his career goals.

“Part of the reason I chose Glion was the luxury brand specialization that I expect to follow in the final semester,” he says. “It’s the career path I want to follow, so it will be particularly relevant.

“But everything we’re studying here is fundamental to my future career, especially the leadership management programs that teach both academic and soft skills. Not only that, some of the most important things I’ve learned here are outside of the program, such as time management and, as I mentioned earlier, getting involved with the community here. That’s been great for networking and to hone my leadership skills, which has been really valuable and can only help me achieve my career aspirations.”

• Main image: Victor (on the left) is pictured receiving the certificate and Champagne prize for being a Senior Ambassador during the semester, as we held our Ambassador Snowball Event to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Ambassador Program.