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- 2012: Andreas Steffensen
Andreas Steffensen
Andreas Steffensen is the seventh recipient of the Neil and Gina Smith Student of the Year Award.
The annual Student of the Year Award, which comprises a prize of £5,000, is sponsored by Neil and Gina Smith. We are grateful to them for the inspiration and funding that have made this award possible. Neil Smith is a Keele Alumnus, with a long history of involvement with, and support for, Keele University. The award recognises a final year student who has demonstrated outstanding achievement at Keele.
Outstanding achievement can take many forms. The awarding panel was asked to select the finalist of 2012 who most closely fulfilled the criteria of academic excellence, coupled with a significant contribution to the life of the University and the wider community. From an exceptionally strong pool of candidates, the awarding panel decided that Andreas Steffensen should be the recipient of the 2012 award.
Andreas graduates from Keele with a First Class Honours Degree in Educational Studies and English. He has secured a training contract with a Midlands-based law firm which will begin after he has studied for a graduate qualification in Law. He then hopes to embark on a career in environmental law.
Andreas has consistently impressed his tutors by his outstanding academic performance, averaging 80% across both of his subjects over three years. His degree dissertation was judged by the Programme Director in Educational Studies to be “master’s level…already publishable”. Andreas’ achievements are even more impressive when viewed in the light of his personal circumstances. Andreas is a Danish student with English as a second language who has settled in North Staffordshire with his wife and attended his local university. He is in the first generataion of his family to attend university. During his first year at Keele, shortly before his exam period, Andreas donated a kidney to his wife who suffers from chronic renal disease. Last month, just after he completed his final year assessments, he became a father when his first child was born.
In addition to his academic attainments, Andreas has made a strong and lasting contribution to Keele and its’ prospective students through his work for the Widening Participation Unit over the last three years, covering a number of roles including mentoring, administration, acting as a guide and a leader for major events. He has received praise for portraying Keele to prospective students in a “realistic but very positive way” and for inspiring young people to think positively about the benefits of higher education. He has been rewarded for his commitment, maturity and hard work by receiving both the Ambassador’s Ambassador Award and the Student Leader Award for 2011/12.
The Student of the Year awarding panel was extremely impressed by the combination of Andreas’ academic achievements, his quiet determination to succeed and his commitment to making a positive impact on the lives of others.
