College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences
Finalists
Cai Ware
Christopher Edwardson
Amelia Schofield, Dawn Gayl and Asli Garane
Nathan McDowell
WINNER!
Cai Ware – BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science
What they did:
“The development of this student over the last year has been an inspiration. This student has multiple learning, health and mental health issues that severely impacted on their studies last year. These adversities included frequent seizures and recurrent hospitalisation, inability to focus/study due to the seizures and late diagnosis of ADHD (despite being clearing a bright student) and depression both due to the frustration of not being able to study or consistently perform day-to-day functioning. Despite this adversity and the barriers to learning, they showed incredible determination and passion for their studies to continue where I believe most would have not; and have still achieved first-class grades. Recently, some health issues have improved and this student has seized the opportunity to use their adversity to help and inspire others by becoming course representative proactively promoting the student voice and building a sense of community within a large course cohort (which has historically been very difficult to achieve) through multiple social events. Additionally, they have jointly spear-headed 3 new student-lead societies within the department, Student Minoritised Group, LGBTQ+ group and a Biosciences Accessible Student’s Space (BASS) for neurodiverse students, all of which allow safe and inclusive support across the department.”
What was the impact?
“Through the course representative role, they have given students a voice to help influence the way the course is run and to promote close relations between academics and students. This is enhanced by the openness, honesty and approachability of the student to facilitate the channels of communication. Acting on feedback from both students and academics, this student has been jointly involved in organising course and department-wide social activities to promote sense of community. I look optimistically forward to seeing a positive impact of this on future NSS scores, particularly for the BMS where this factor usually scores poorly. The student support groups (minoritised, LGBTQ+, and BASS) are a new initiative in the department that will positively impact the student experience by allow safe and inclusive support across the department and creating a more inclusive and diverse culture both departmentally and potentially within STEM subjects. Beyond this, the widest spreading impact in my opinion comes from the way this student has inspired those around them through overcoming adversity to succeed and helping others throughout the process (see next section).”
How it inspired others
“I believe that students who have spoken to this student through the course or aforementioned support groups and had insight into the challenges and adversities that they overcame and continue to faced-down, feel inspired to determinedly pursue their own academic and life goals even when things get hard. This is certainly true within my tutorial groups at L4 and L5 where this student engages and supports others through shared experience, empathy and compassion for individual situations above and beyond their own daily battles. This is inspirational and a privilege for me to witness and in turn inspires me as a tutor every time I interact with them. This student’s enthusiasm, passion and selflessness is contagious and truly inspires. I have the best dynamics in my tutor group that I have known, due largely to the influence and honesty of this student. Regardless of the outcomes of this award I will look to showcase the difficult journey of this student through academia as a real success story of how determination and compassion, even in the face of great adversity, can overcome huge barriers to achieve personal academic progression while leaving a lasting impact on others around them through support and understanding.”