Hello everyone,

my name is Sina Soyke and I am now the new Ambassador for Vancouver Island University. I am 21 years old, I study international tourism management at the Hochschule in Bremen and from August until December 2018 I spent a semester at the Vancouver Island University. During my semester abroad, I joined the tourism faculty at the VIU. The courses I liked most have been the two following ones:
On the one hand, “Leading and Organizing Tourism” has been my favorite course, simply because we did so many different things. For example we went kayaking, we visited the Nanaimo Museum, or went to Wildplay Nanaimo to do some climbing (definitely one of the most exhausting and scariest things I did there). On the other hand, “Hospitality Risk Management” has been a very interesting course, since you always got to know what is going on in the world that day or week and how the tourism industry prepares for disasters of any kind.

At VIU, I enjoyed the many different options of sport courses the most. The instructors have always been motivated (and motivating), I got to know many lovely people, I tried things I never did before and the gym is free of charge. Besides, the VIU offered a huge variety of excursions for students, which have always been a lot fun. Last but not least: The library at the VIU. I would have never imagined to say this but I really enjoyed spending time in the library. You cannot always really concentrate on studying while having this amazing sea and mountain view, but it is definitely worth its while (especially the sunsets are adorable).

The thing I liked most about Canada itself have been the excursions into nature. Since Canada is so versatiletly, you will find so many different things to see and do in one place. Even the island itself has so many different sites that it is definitely worth exploring by car. However, parts of my heart will always be in Banff and Jasper National Park. If you decide to study at the VIU, do not miss the chance to fly to Alberta and explore these amazing landscapes and wonders of nature!

If you have any questions please get in touch with me via e-mail. For further information you can also reach my via instagram.