Nick Peng

Graduate story

Confidence boost from international study

Nick Peng was only a Staffordshire student for one year, but the university will always have a place in his heart.

Having completed a two-year course in Market Communications at the Werbeakademie in Vienna, Austrian-born Nick decided to take advantage of the specialist creative institution’s partnership with Staffordshire University.

He studied Advertising and Brand Management as a third-year and graduated in July 2015.

“Moving to another country has given me an international feeling,” says the 24-year-old, whose parents come from Taiwan. “I always wanted to apply to different advertising agencies around the world, but always felt I had some sort of barrier that prevented me from doing so. After I moved to UK, I didn’t have this barrier anymore and started to send my applications to agencies around the world.”

After graduation, Nick returned to Austria to start a six-month internship with international creative agency Publicis Pixelpark in Frankfurt, Germany. And after that, who knows?

“My internship is for six months, but whether I’ll get a full time job offer or not, is still unknown,” he says. “If I get an opportunity to work there after my internship, perfect. If not, I will start to apply to other agencies in Frankfurt or Hamburg. That’s my plan so far, but it may change drastically as soon as I move Frankfurt.”

Nick plans to keep in touch with his fellow Advertising and Brand Management students and says that one of the things he most valued about the university were the all-night library facilities.

“Being able to work in the library all night long was one of my favourite things,” he says. “Since I am a person who needs silence while working, the library was the perfect place during the night.”

Having previously studied in Vienna, moving to Stoke-on-Trent was quite a change.

“Vienna is a huge city, with everything connected to each other by trains, subways, buses and trams,” he says. “Everything moves really quickly, and wherever you went, there were a lot of people.

“In comparison to Stoke, it was a huge difference for me. Everything was in walking distance, the buildings weren’t as tall and it was colder than expected. The rumours about the typical English weather are apparently true.

“However things in Stoke moved slower, and therefore people seem to be more patient.”

Nick believes in being flexible and adapting as circumstances changes, which means he can take advantage of everything life has to offer.

“I just put one foot in front of another,” he says. “I didn’t have a full plan worked out, but as soon as opportunities presented themselves, I began to plan my next step.

“I began to study Communication Studies at the Viennese University, but I dropped out after three semesters, because it didn’t felt useful to me.

“Then I applied for the Werbeakademie and after two years I was told I could finish my last year in Staffordshire University. And here I am now.”

Course studied
Advertising and Brand Management
Year of graduation
2015
in the UK for Quality Education

Sustainable Development Goal 4, Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2023

for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

for Facilities

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

for Social Inclusion

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

Four Star Rating

QS Star Ratings 2021