Marie-Anne Gisele N’Guessan Epse Assanvo

Marie-Ann opened a centre in her home nation of Cote d'Ivoire to teach English as a second language to unprivileged children and young people. She felt she was lacking management skills to run her centre efficiently so applied for and received a Chevening Scholarship allowed her to come to the University of Stirling to study the MSc Management and English Language Teaching.

What first attracted you to choose the University of Stirling to study your course?

I was looking for a school that taught both management and English language teaching to be equipped with both skills to run my language centre efficiently. Stirling was the only university I found in the entire UK to offer this course, so I jumped in!

What are the benefits you found as a result of studying at Stirling?

The University of Stirling is beautifully built, with warm colours that create a powerful learning environment and gave me the enthusiasm to study.

The lecturers are passionate about their subjects and constantly look for the best way to transfer their knowledge to the students while helping them to learn independently.

Stirling is a warm, beautiful and quiet place to live and study. It was undoubtedly the best place for me to be.

What specific features did you like most about the course?

What I liked most was the technology used by Stirling. The Canvas platform is useful and collaborative. I enjoy the FLIP learning method used at Stirling. I loved being able to read the topic and get prepared for an engaged discussion with the lecturer during the live sessions.

The experienced lecturers who taught us are extremely good and so humble that they make the knowledge transfer so smooth.

The library at the University impressed me with the articles and books available, and the electronic rental and data access systems.

What advice would you give to prospective students considering coming to Stirling?

Stirling is the right place to study, get academic support, access worldwide literature required in your field and more importantly to discover the real you in your learning process. In addition, the staff are extremely supportive and ensure you have everything you need to perform well.

What impact do you think your studies will have on your future career?

Prior to coming to Stirling, I opened a centre to teach English as a second language to unprivileged children and young people in my country, Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa. We teach English as a second language as a means of offering them an equal chance to have access to the globalised world we live in. These young people have enormous potential, but this can be missed due to their lack of opportunity to learn English resulting in poor international communication skills.

I was lacking the management skills to run my centre efficiently. After graduating from this MSc Management and English Language Teaching, I can’t wait to go back home to apply my newly acquired skills to manage my social language centre more successfully. I’m aware it’ll not be easy, but I’m convinced I have the right skills now and have the continued connection with the University for support.

Is there anything else you would like to say about your time at Stirling?

At the University of Stirling, the strapline is not mere words but a reality as we’re taught and challenged to truly "Be the Difference". I'm proud to be Stirling forever!