When Michelle Shipley (Tourism Management, 2009) enrolled at Champlain Saint-Lambert, it was nearly a decade after she’d completed her first Cegep diploma.
Shipley had completed a DEC in Community Recreational Leadership Training, Parks, Recreation and Leisure Studies studies at Dawson College in 1999 and gone on to work at a series of jobs she didn’t see herself staying in longterm.
Eventually, Shipley felt that she wanted to expand her career prospects by going back to school.
“I thought, ‘I need to start looking at what I want to do,’” said Shipley. “I’d been out of school for so long, I wanted to get refreshed. I thought, ‘now is the time to refocus on what I want to do.’”
Shipley had long been an avid traveler and she thought that building a career based on her existing personal interest would lead to a rewarding work life.
“I was looking to go into event planning and I love to travel. I saw that the program encompassed both of my dreams at the time,” she recalled.
Looking back at her time at Champlain, Shipley said that what stands out most to her are the teachers who helped her along her path.
“We had some fantastic teachers in the Tourism Management program,” said Shipley.
Now a Coordinator of Training and Development at Air Canada Vacations, Shipley was able to use her knowledge and passion for travel to open new doors in her career.
Before landing at Air Canada Vacations, Shipley worked in travel-related jobs at CAA Quebec, Expedia and American Express.
Shipley loves to take cruises with her family and was delighted to find opportunities, like at Air Canada Vacations where she was able to help clients book cruises every day.
“My passion when I travel is cruising,” she said. “I really enjoyed doing it. I got to sell what I love.”
Now Shipley trains other employees in the company, returning to an early love of teaching and helping others develop their skills.
Shipley’s advice for current students and recent grads: “Everything you learn stays with you. If you pick something and you don’t like it, it’s not the end of the world. There’s tons of things out there. Find something that you love.”
