Ross-shire bright spark picks up Student of the Year accolade
A STRAIGHT-A Ross-shire student who also found time to shine outside the lecture room has scooped a top accolade for her drive and enthusiasm.
Dedicated business studies student Rachael Bews (22), who is from Evanton, has been named Student of the Year 2014 by Inverness College UHI.
Rachael’s commitment to her study and her drive to succeed led to her nomination by her lecturer, Sandra Cache.
Throughout her time at Inverness College UHI, Rachael has not only improved her grades year on year to become a straight-A student, but also been an active member of the student body, participating in a wide range of extracurricular activities.
In addition to her studies, she spent her final two years working as a student intern with the Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE) and CREATE, the centre for enterprise and innovation at Inverness College UHI, organising activities to encourage entrepreneurialism amongst students.
During her third year Rachael volunteered her services as a Subject Network Student Officer (SNSO).
In this role she was responsible for communicating the views of her fellow students, boosting engagement between the student body and teaching staff.
In her final year, Rachael was one of a small group of students to complete an optional module developed in partnership with SSE’s innovation and quality management team.
This gave her an in-depth and real-life insight into the process of running a business using innovation to maintain a competitive edge.
As a result of her hard work and enthusiasm, Rachael will graduate with a first class degree in Business Management with Marketing this September.
She said: "I feel absolutely overjoyed after winning the award for Student of the Year. It still hasn’t quite sunk in yet.
"From the very beginning I thoroughly enjoyed my course and cannot rate Inverness College UHI and my lecturers highly enough. I have been extremely lucky to receive such wonderful education there and have the opportunity to work on some great projects in and out of the classroom. It has allowed me to promote one of my biggest passions, entrepreneurship."
Sandra added: "Rachael is talented and has a natural inclination for marketing and enterprise.
"She has a strong passion for enterprise and entrepreneurship and worked hard to inform other students of the opportunities available to them, whilst encouraging them to achieve their full potential.
"This has fuelled her work with SIE and CREATE, which allowed her to promote enterprise and entrepreneurship to students on-campus and further afield.’’
Rachael will accept her award at Inverness College UHI’s graduation ceremony at Eden Court on September 26.