Scholars celebrate as awards handed out

The University of East London (UEL) presented scholarships to dozens of students on 19 October, with awards ranging from £1,000 to £27,750 for the Vice-Chancellors Scholarship. In a lively ceremony held at the historic Dome at the University’s Stratford Water Lane campus, UEL’s Vice-Chancellor and President Amanda Broderick handed out scholarship certificates to the winning students, with a total of 199 people benefitting from the latest round of awards.

Those present at the ceremony were in no doubt about the impact the money would make on their studies in the future. Anna Foster is studying for an MSc in Psychology and said her scholarship would ease her financial worries,

I feel very, very grateful. I always knew I wanted to go into psychology but there's a lot of postgraduate requirements to go into the field, which can be really expensive. I was working three jobs, trying to save up some funds for it. The postgraduate scholarship helped me to further my studies and take a weight off my shoulders and give me that flexibility, which has been great.”

Samantha Reid, who is studying for an  MBA in Sustainable Energy, said she was honoured to receive her postgraduate scholarship, “The scholarship gives me the opportunity to do something that I would never be able to do otherwise, it especially gives me the opportunity to enhance not only myself but also to make a contribution to the community that I live in as well.”

Oskar Buler received one of the largest awards, the Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship. He is studying for an LLB in Law and International Relations and said winning the award was hugely significant to him, “Receiving the scholarship means a lot. Especially since I approve of the university values, that the future is based on careers. It is important that graduates know what career they will get after university and think towards the future.”

It was an informal ceremony for the scholarship winners, with music and refreshments provided. Also present was Farhana Ali, an advisor on the Student Money Advice and Rights Team. She was in no doubt about the value of the scholarships, “I absolutely love the scholarship awards because they give individuals the opportunity to shine. A lot of our students come from BAME or low-income backgrounds, so it’s nice that we can support them financially through university, championing them throughout the years they’re with us. For us, it’s a humbling experience to read about the achievements of these students before coming to UEL and then about their achievements during their time here, and it's wonderful being able to award them significant sums of money".