Two Robert Gordon University (RGU) students are in the final shortlist of only eight for a National Hospitality award.
Lara Senhen and Fayme Patel, both final year International Hospitality Management students at RGU’s Aberdeen Business School, are in the running for The Council for Hospitality Management Education Young Guns Hospitality Student of the Year award.
Lara said she is ‘really delighted’ to have made it to the final stage of the competition which has been a great motivator for her final year.
“If I win I will be extremely happy”, said Lara, who is originally from Germany but moved to Aberdeen almost four years ago to begin her course at RGU.
She continued: “I put a lot of dedication into my studies as well as into my placement and have faced so many challenges so winning would just confirm to me that studying abroad and taking a placement in a multinational company was totally worth it.
“In order to be shortlisted, I needed to create a video answering three questions which were; why I should win the competition, what job role I see myself in in five years’ time and what I enjoy most about the industry.
“I also needed to fill out a form including a work reference of my placement and answering questions about myself such as: what my outstanding achievements were at my placement, what my key strengths are, what my dream job is, who I admire most etc.
“After being shortlisted, I need to fly down to London on March 9. While we’re there, different judges will talk to us while having lunch and decide afterwards who will win.
“I am really looking forward to it. I am sure it will be great to meet the judges but also to meet more like-minded people and to hear from their experience and their dreams of the future.”
Lara is planning to keep building on her academic knowledge upon graduation this summer and is applying to study a Masters in International Business and/or Management.
Fayme said she was ‘completely shocked and surprised’ to be shortlisted.
She added: “I feel honoured and very excited. The competition is so intense as other students across the country carried out their placements (internship) in five stars, well-known establishments. I feel incredibly happy to have been acknowledged and praised for what has the most rewarding, exciting and fulfilling year of my life.
“If I win I feel it will open up many doors for a very exciting career, which is what I aspire to.
“The International Hospitality Management degree course at RGU has been an excellent course for me, where I have had the opportunity to study internationally in Singapore and whilst I was in the Far East I took the opportunity to find a paid internship placement for a year in Hong Kong, which RGU supported.”
Fayme said that during her internship she gained a vast experience of living and working abroad and gained a true international perspective of the hospitality business.
She is currently working on applying for company graduate schemes in the hospitality sector and hopes her time at RGU will lead her on to build a successful career full of opportunities.
Craig Leith, lecturer and programme leader for International Tourism Management and International Hospitality Management, said: “Both Fayme and Lara fully deserve this recognition and it reflects their obvious passion for the hospitality industry.
“Over the last few years they have proven to be dedicated and talented students within a very strong cohort.
“I really am very proud of their efforts and I have no doubt that their achievement in being recognised by CHME is only a stepping stone for long, successful and rewarding hospitality careers for both Fayme and Lara.”
The Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME) is a non-profit making organisation representing UK, European and International universities and colleges offering hospitality higher education programmes. It is CHME’s stated purpose to contribute to the professional development and status of UK and International hospitality management education, through the sharing of best practice in scholarship and pedagogy.