Students walk into an open space that looks more like a tourist destination than a typical class with chairs and tables. The coach and instructor gets the batch in a semi circle and starts the day’s lecture with safety standards of skydiving.
Umm, wondering what class is this?
Well, that’s what a practical classroom (image below) looks like for students of ‘Adventure Management’ at Queenstown Resort College (QRC) in New Zealand.
These students aren’t on a vacation. They study and train to become certified professionals in 21 months to train skydiving students or become jump masters as per the standards and rules of the New Zealand Parachute Industry Association (NZPIA).
Education in The Adventure Capital of The World
“What made you choose this course all way in New Zealand,” I asked Anurag Beniwal, a student from Rajasthan, India, doing an adventure tourism course in Queenstown, with scholarship.
He said he was inspired by the jump masters in Rishikesh, where he had gone for bungee jumping with his friends. The coach and the other instructors there followed the safety methods from New Zealand. “That’s when I had the idea of turning my passion and interest into my vocation,” he exclaimed!
Students of this course are sent for internships to AJ Hackett International, where they can earn about $14,000-$18,000 approximately during their internship, and learn from the best in the business.
“We help students make a career, not just get a job,” said Rachel Fisk, Marketing Manager at QRC. That led me to my next question!
What if a student doesn’t get a job in New Zealand after finishing their course?
The certification provided by NZPIA is recognised worldwide. People from across the world follow New Zealand’s safety standards for any kind of adventure sports business. And in QRC, we also encourage and train students for entrepreneurship.
Along With Adventure Comes Hospitality
Think of a tourist destination which also happens to be an education hub — what’s the next thing that comes to your mind?
Hospitality.
When tourists come to town, they need places to stay — right from budget hotels to luxury hotels that offer world-class service. What better than homegrown students who are taught to run hotels, become chefs, or run the hotel industry like an ace!
Auckland University of Technology (AUT) has bachelor’s and post graduate diplomas in International Hospitality Management, along with other courses for public policy, communications, mathematical science, etc.
AUT’s Hospitality department ranks 35 in QS world university ranking.
With board exam results just out, if you are googling for your career options, take a decision that matches your passion.
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