We asked two of our Career Service Student Ambassadors, Rose Gunning (Politics and International Relations) and Kreeshi Shavdia (Mathematics and Physics), what they felt like they got out of achieving the Bristol PLUS Award. Here is what they said…
Hi, I’m Emily, Volunteer Coordinator at Bristol SU.
Over the past year, the Bristol SU Volunteering Team have been running ‘One-Off Opportunities’.
These are group volunteering opportunities with various organisations across Bristol, that students can take part in on a flexible and ad-hock basis. I love joining in with these sessions, to chat to the fantastic student volunteers and learn why they’ve been some of our most popular opportunities.
During Student Volunteering Week (Monday 10 to Saturday 15 February), we’ll be providing a range of events, talks and workshops to help you find your perfect volunteering role. This includes a number of One-Off Opportunities.
Hear from 4th year MSc Chemistry student, Zahria, who achieved her Bristol PLUS Award in the 2023-24 Academic Year, whilst also securing a summer internship with telecommunications company BT!
How has PLUS prepared you for your future once you leave university?
The Bristol PLUS Award has played a great role in preparing me for life beyond university by giving me a clearer understanding of navigating my career journey. It also opened my eyes to many career resources available at the university, that I would otherwise not have known about!
The activities required to achieve the PLUS Award helped me build and showcase key transferable skills that employers value such as teamwork, communication and time management.
‘As a Postgraduate Researcher, it can be easy to focus so intently on your research and forget how much university life still has to offer. The Bristol PLUS Award has encouraged me to seek out these experiences, and meet a wider range of students and staff, which I am incredibly grateful for.’
The Bristol PLUS Award is the university’s employability Award, giving you the opportunity to gain formal recognition for commitments you take on outside of your research.
Getting involved outside of your research is a great way to build connections and community. The PLUS Award recognises a broad range of activities, and for Postgraduate Researchers, lots of these are things you may well already be taking part in.
That could be teaching support, marking, or submitting a paper to a journal. Or experiences outside of the university such as part time work or volunteering. For more ideas, you can check out our list of common PGR options for the Bristol PLUS Award.
Bristol PLUS Award achiever and Outstanding PLUS Award nominee Violet Allmark achieved her 70 hours of PLUS activity through working as a freelance drag performer and taking on a student leadership role as chair of Bristol Theatre Department Society InterACT.
Violet was a freelance performer with drag cabaret ‘The House of Savalon’ during their residency at award-winning Bristol LGBTQ+ venue Queenshilling, proud sponsors of Bristol University LGBTQ+ society.
Violet performing as Etta Boy, at The House of Savalon
‘My freelance work, as part of the House of Savalon’s three month residency at Queenshilling, gave me the opportunity to develop my artistic costume-making practice, and improve my time management and organisational skills. I spent hours preparing for my acts: sourcing, making and editing my own costumes, props and audio.
In addition, the regular feedback sessions enhanced my personal reflection skills on my own performances as well as my communication skills through constructive feedback
The House of Savalon at the Queen Shilling
Kickstarting my drag career this year has led to such amazing performance opportunities, such as performing last week before Divina de Campo at the Creative Youth Network Station and even internationally in Woody’s Bar Toronto, where I was tipped during my performance by a queen recently announced to be on Season 3 of Canada Drag Race and I was even in the presence of the show’s ‘version’ of Ru Paul: Brook Lynn Hytes.’
Violet also developed new skills and experience by chairing the committee of InterAct, the theatre department’s society.
The Bristol PLUS Award rewards students for taking part in extra-curricular activity alongside their studies. Every year, we are impressed by the variety of activities students use towards their PLUS, and the impact these activities have – both towards the local community, and towards the students’ personal and professional development.
Spotlight on Oscar: director, president, PLUS Achiever… and multitasking extraordinaire!
Photo credit: Peter Wormington (Moonshine Photography)
To achieve his 70 hours, Oscar Oglina, a fifth-year medical student, was director of the Medical Student Charity Dance Production, CLIC, which broke fundraising records by raising over £60,000 for charity. (more…)
Completing the Bristol PLUS Award is a great way to reflect on the experiences you have whilst you’re a student and get confident in your career planning.
James Mwendwa, 2nd Year Geology MSci
James Mwendwa, second year Geology student, achieved his PLUS Award this year in recognition of a range of experiences gained during his first and second years, in term time and during the holidays.
‘The steps to achieve my PLUS Award opened up new opportunities and skills in employability and interview techniques.’
The Outstanding PLUS Awards give Bristol PLUS Award achievers the chance to nominate themselves for going above and beyond and making outstanding contributions to their PLUS Award activity.
In this launch year, we received 109 nominations across 8 categories and now, we’re thrilled to introduce you to this year’s winners!
These 8 students were selected by the judging panel for meeting the brief in their category, and showing a truly outstanding contribution to their role.
Better World
Brief: Tackle global challenges in a local or global context, making a better world in a big or small way
Antonia Voigt, Year 1 Education (PhD)
Antonia Voigt
Antonia worked on a research project tackling barriers to secondary education in the Asia Pacific region. She helped to bring together academics, international organisations and local practitioners across the Global North-South divide to foster partnerships and share knowledge!(more…)
In 2021-22, 1111 students achieved the challenge of completing their Bristol PLUS Award, giving their CVs a boost and reflecting on the value of their extra-curricular experiences.
We caught up with Aamir Mehmood, 2nd Year Biology BSc, to find out how he built up his 70 hours experience and achieved his PLUS Award.
Aamir Mehmood, Bristol PLUS Award Achiever 2021-22
‘I have found out I am a lot more resourceful and resilient than I thought. I’m proud to have discovered this through my PLUS award experience’
Aamir achieved his 70 hours through working a part time job as a barista, and volunteering at Brandon Hill as a gardening volunteer.
‘I wanted to volunteer locally and find something where I could really make some difference, helping other members of my community keeping Brandon Hill pristine and looking its best was the most fun opportunity I found.’(more…)