Your MDXSU Award Winners!
The night of Thursday 16th May was dedicated to celebrating the amazing students at Middlesex and all they have achieved over the past academic year.
Awards were given to those who have made a special contribution to the lives of MDX students, whether through running societies, organising events, representing their coursemates or contributing to student media.
Alongside a three-course celebratory meal, the awards ceremony included a performance from the MDX cheer-dance squad, Bollywood dancing from Desi Rascals' Jo Shah and an acoustic performance from MDX student and singer-songwriter Kim Bateman. A huge thank you to our performers, and also to our student photographer Sam and videographer Agnese, who recorded the night so beautifully!
Click here to view photos from the night, or read on to find out who took home the trophies...
MDX Skills Award
The experience and skills you gain while at university don't just come from your studies. The MDX Award exists to recognise and reward students for what you achieve outside of your degree, whether that's through maintaining a part-time job while studying, captaining a sports team, contributing to the student media, volunteering with student voice or running societies. Out of the 106 who entered the scheme, nine were shortlisted for their outstanding contribution: Leanne Mitchell, Faryal Rabbani, King Fong Tey, Ipek Azize Karatepe, Michael New, Toby Dickens, Katie-Diana Collen, Orla Hillary and Katie Oakes.
Out of these nine, three students were selected to receive a special MDX Plus Award:
- Kiang Fong Tey, for his endless hours spent volunteering with the homeless in London and abroad, leading recycling events, and working in Bosnia for international disaster relief
- Orla Hillary, for her dedication as basketball captain0 and work as a student voice leader
- Toby Dickens, for his outstanding warmth and compassion within his part-time job.
Media Awards
Best Pow! Journalist of the Year
The shortlist: Sagal Goodsir, Jennifer Igiri and Michal Lachowicz.
Winner of Best Pow! Journalist of the Year: Jennifer Igiri
"Her articles are really entertaining and relatable - I really enjoyed her one about fitness. She has humour and knows how to address all of us lazy people! I think she is a great writer and dedicated to her articles." Jennifer has a real talent for writing, and has shown continued commitment and dedication to contributing to Pow! magazine.
Best Pow! Radio Show of the Year
The shortlist: Catherine Christofis (Christofest), Paddy Kellaway (Undecided), Kingsley (Afrobeats) and Nu Underground.
Winner of Best Pow! Radio Show of the Year: Kingsley, with Afrobeats
Students loved Kingsley's personality, humour and music choices, his humour and his irrepressible personality. He showed incredible commitment to Pow! Radio, turning up every week to broadcast his Afrobeats show.
The judges wanted to give a special commendation to Paddy Kellaway, who narrowly missed out on the top spot. Students loved his mixes and music choices, and Paddy demonstrated dedication to the radio show even during difficult circumstances.
Outstanding Contribution to Pow! Media
The shortlist: Sagal Goodsir, Rowena Kinghorn and Paddy Kellaway.
Winner of Outstanding Contribution to Pow! Media: Rowena Kinghorn.
"Rowena Kinghorn for showing such dedication to Pow! Mag even though it has had a lot of trouble over the year. To finally have an issue published shows her determination for the mag. She also edits almost all of the sections by herself-what a mammoth task!". The judges were incredibly impressed by not only Rowena's journalist talents, but her ongoing commitment to student media and her eagerness in reaching out to new contributors.
Student Voice Leader of the Year
The shortlist: Rukshana Islam (2nd Year BSc Children's Nursing), Aishah Piprawala (3rd Year BA Criminology) Andrew Roy (1st Year BSc Adult Nursing) and Lea Stundner (3rd Year BSc Biosciences).
Winner of Student Voice Leader of the Year: Andrew Roy
"Andy went above and beyond not just to represent their cohort or branch of Nursing but to represent nurses as a whole, by making time for their peers and keeping constant communication with the Students’ Union. This person even brought an idea to change to one of the student voice conferences in relation to improving library facilities for all students."
Team MDXSU Member of the Year
MDXSU Team Members work year round for the Students' Union, managing the cloakroom during Welcome Week, helping out students at the MDXSU Welcome Desk and checking students onto our infamous Thames boat party.
The shortlist: Patricia Gomes, Blessing Onyeulo and Natasha Webster.
Winner of Team MDXSU Member of the Year: Natasha Webster
"Natasha has an amazing energy and an eagerness to help anyone she comes into contact with. Her enthusiasm for MDXSU is commendable and she is talented far beyond the confines of her role".
Student Intern of the Year
MDXSU launched a pioneering new Internship Scheme in 2013, giving us the capacity and funds to hire twelve part-time interns to work within the Opportunities and Voice departments. We now employ nineteen interns, and hope to increase this year on year.
The shortlist: Hannah Evans, Jennifer Igiri and Leigh Treacy.
Winner of Student Intern of the Year: Leigh Treacy
Leigh has spent the year building and maintaining strong links with her academic society. She helped to organise the first ever international exchange trip, which was meticulously planned and hugely successful.
MDXSU Staff Member of the Year
This award went to our Student Voice Development Coordinator, Amanda Carlon. Amanda organises and delivers training and workshops for students, voice leaders and elections candidates. Students commented on how valuable, enjoyable and affirming the training they received was, and appreciated her compassionate, approachable nature and positive attitude.
Society Awards
Best New Society of the Year
The shortlist: the Journalism Society, Social Work Academic Society and Tandem Society.
Winner of Best New Society of the Year: Social Work Academic Society
This year, the Social Work Society have organised regular networking events and external speakers for their students, and at Christmas ran a successful food bank and raised money for Age Concern. They have also forged strong links with their department at the university.
Most Developed Society of the Year
The shortlist: the Gaming Society, Islamic Society and Pakistan Society.
Winner of Most Developed Society of the Year: the Gaming Society
The Gaming Society have come on leaps and bounds this past year. Despite low attendance at their earliest events, they were never discouraged and over the course of the year the society has become really popular. Their regular gaming nights and poker tournaments have proved really successful.
Academic Society of the Year
Academic societies at MDX have only been around for less than two years, so it was amazing to read the nominations and how much they're appreciated.
The shortlist: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Academic Society (CAMAS), Natural Sciences Academic Society and Social Work Academic Society.
Winner of Academic Society of the Year: Natural Sciences Academic Society
NatSoc is a relatively new society which has worked hard to build close relationships with their department and network with academics, aiming to get students to engage with their course and boost their employment prospects. They organised the first ever Natural Sciences Career Expo organised in collaboration with IBMS, a huge event and an amazing opportunity for students from MDX and beyond.
Non-Academic Society of the Year
This was a really tough category, with all the nominated societies doing amazing things at MDX this year.
The shortlist: African-Caribbean Society (ACS), RAG (Raise and Give), Tandem Society, Jewish Society (JSoc) and Pakistan Society (PakSoc).
Winner of the Non-Academic Society of the Year: ACS
Despite going through extremely difficult events earlier this academic year, they remained strong and worked through them. They took initiative to take part in the Welcome Week programme, and put on regular events - these are really popular and always get great feedback from students.
Society Event of the Year
The shortlist: ACS Take Me Out, the Criminology Exchange, Culture Shock and the Natural Science Career Expo.
Winner of Society Event of the Year: Culture Shock, organised by the Pakistan, Nepalese, Bollywood and Tamil Society.
Their hugely successful event was well planned, had a clear theme, and saw a big student turnout, all desspite of one of the societies involved having to pull out at the last minute. "There was lot of stuff from different societies, which was enjoyable - music from different cultures and dance performances from different countries. It was enjoyable and interesting, and I found out more about different countries and cultures".
MDX Student of the Year
The shortlist: Fizza Ali, Jess Hawke, Nadia Iqbal, Monica Shah and Joe Stoll.
Winner of MDX Student of the Year: Joe Stoll
"Joe has made a sufficient impact on University life. Joe established the first pro-bono legal advice clinic at Middlesex…[which] has helped over 100 people from students and the wider community... He has been an Student Learning Assistant for two years, and regularly provides workshops. Joseph was also awarded the Lord Sheppard Award for Excellence in Law".
The judge's also felt that a special Lifetime Achievement Award should go to Nadia Iqbal and Fizza Ali.
Congratulations to all of our winners - and everyone else who was nominated - and thank you all for making such a positive contribution to MDX. Further thanks is due to everyone who placed a nomination; your appreciation was much appreciated!
Coming back to MDX next year? Maybe you'll make next year's shortlist! MDXSU is here to support you in whatever you want to do, whether that's a weekly slot on Pow! radio, setting up your own society or organising an amazing event. Email the Welcome Desk team at info@mdxsu.com, and they'll put you in touch with a member of staff who can help.
