UNG Student athlete testimonial: Urban Česnik

Excerpt from the interview performed with Urban Česnik in 2015:

“I’m aware of the fact that education is important so I’d have decided to go to university in any case. In this way I can get a degree which will, after finishing my sports career, surely help me find a relevant job. My employment prospects will be much higher than in the case of looking for a job with a secondary-school degree.

I’ve always been interested in natural sciences, and the study programme Environment seemed really interesting to me. The fields covered by this programme are contemporary and promising in the future. But another key factor in choosing my studis was the location of the university. As an athlete, I have daily training sessions so studying in a close locasion is a considerable advantage. The location of the University of Nova Gorica gives us, athletes from the North Primorska Region, an excellent opportunity to study in the local environment and practise professional sports at the same time.

It’s quite hard to because I have training sessions five times a week and we take part in competitions at weekends. But I have to stress that the School of Environmental Sciences stands by my side – the whole university is actually athletes-friendly, as we athletes, agree with the professors and the management to obtain certain adaptations of the study process that the status of the student athlete brings. I like the individual approach of the teaching staff, their accessibility and their willingness to offer extra help. It often happens that a professor explains certain study matter to me individually, as i could not attend tha particular lecture. And I’m also lucky that my volleyball club supports me too. Our sports director, as well as my coach are actually aware of the fact that obtaining a degree is very important for an athlete, so they both understand my absence from training sessions in cases when I ahve to take part in field work etc. In general, I can say that I’m really happy with my choice of the School, I like my study programme, too, and the School allows me to combine my studies with my sports career.”

Urban Česnik, volleyball player and student of the first-level study programme Environment, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Nova Gorica

Academic year 2015/16

Update 2020:

After completing his undergraduate studies of Environment at the of the School of Environmental Sciences in 2016 and successfully defending his BSc thesis titled Reproduction of tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) in Nova Gorica, Urban successfully obtained also his MSc degree in Environment at the same School with the MSc thesis Yeasts as promising biological control agents (BCAs) against phytopathogenic fungi in viticulture.

During his study period, he took part in more extra-curricular student projects and remained an active professional volleyball player in the OK Salonit Anhovo Volleyball Club.

Access to Urban Česnik’s BSc thesis in the Repository of the University of Nova Gorica
Access to Urban Česnik’s MSc thesis in the Repository of the University of Nova Gorica