The Neil and Gina Smith Student of the Year 2008

Rachel Wiggett

soya_Rachel Wiggett The University is delighted to announce that the 2008 winner of the prestigious Neil and Gina Smith Student of the Year Award is Rachel Wiggett.

Rachel has taken a degree in Sociology and French at Keele, including a semester on the Study Abroad programme.   Rachel has performed particularly well academically, gaining a first class degree at Keele.

In addition to her strong academic performance, Rachel has contributed both to Keele and to the wider community in her extracurricular activities.  During her gap year, Rachel worked as a careworker in a charity near to her home caring for children with special needs. Whilst at Keele, she has been active in (and this year was Secretary of) SPEAK, a chapel-based Christian social justice group campaigning on a number of issues. This year Rachel has also been committed to her work as a volunteer in a NACRO youth inclusion project in Stoke-on-Trent, facilitating group sessions for teenagers deemed by police and or social services to be at risk of offending.
Rachel impressed the interview panel with her enthusiasm for and commitment to her academic subjects and particularly to her proposed research topic. Rachel has been offered, and has accepted a place on, the MRes in Sociology at Keele in the coming year.

Rachel’s background – living as a child in Niger before moving to the UK – and her Christian faith drive her to optimise her contribution both to society and to the academic community.

Rachel is an extremely deserving winner of the Neil and Gina Smith Award who will be an excellent ambassador for Keele University.

Photo: Rachel Wiggett