Top scholars celebrated

We celebrated the achievements of students who received top marks in their programmes last study block, in an online Excellent Scholar Awards ceremony yesterday.

Those students were Harmanjyot Whala, Xiaowen Zhu, Fahmida Akhter, Valentina Kurokhtina, Yang Liu, Margo Martine Marguerite Ballesta-Torrente, Kazuhisa Kondo, Kevin Atchama Sourama, Vikas Sarin, Christine Melanie Santiago, and Harmanjyot Whala.

Deputy CEO: Academic, Professor Leoni Schmidt, congratulated students on the resilience they’d shown during a difficult and unpredictable period.

Head of Applied Management, Russell Harray, talked about some attributes top students shared including being motivated, engaged, adaptable, and having a passion for learning.

Those attributes were shared not just by today’s award recipients but by many other students who had done really well in their courses too, he said.

He said achieving good grades was just part of the equation for top students. They also thought about long-term goals and future career paths.

He invited award recipients to share their own thoughts on what it takes to be a top student.

Students talked about having good time management, asking questions, critical thinking, and not being afraid to express your point of view. They said they were grateful for the support they’d received from staff and other students.

Learning Support Advisor, Cheryl Watson, said it was great to see students who had sought extra study support early on in their journey, now receiving Excellent Scholar Awards.