Hear from previous winners of the Go Herts Award

The Go Herts Award is the University’s official recognition of all the fantastic things you do outside of the classroom. Quite simply, the award aims to help you identify the skills you’ve developed over your time at Herts and will recognise the extra-curricular and voluntary activities that you complete. 

Khan Asghar Iqbal, Annabelle Appleby and Zainab Karim are all previous Go Herts Award winners and they wanted to share a few pieces of advice about why they applied for the award, the activities they used as evidence, and their thoughts on why the Award is important. Hopefully this can inspire you to start your own Go Herts Award application. 

Khan Asghar Iqbal

Annabelle Appleby

Zainab Karim

 Drishti Tewani

 Simone Bothwell

 Abbey Sanderson

 Lenty Esther

What made you want to do the Go Herts Award?

“Graduating with more than a degree really appealed to me. Filling in the application helped me to realise the achievements I made whilst studying at Hertfordshire and highlighted how many things the University has to offer.” – Khan Asghar Iqbal, Paramedic Science, School of Health and Social Work

“My mentor recommended I should apply as I have done loads of activities!” – Annabelle Appleby, Primary Education, School of Education

“The University has so many wonderful activities on offer. You have to make the most of this experience and if you’re unsure about trying new things, University is definitely the place to try them. That’s why I applied for this Award.” – Zainab Karim, Business with Psychology, School of Humanities and Hertfordshire Business School

What activities did you do for your Go Herts Award?

“My extra-curricular activities included working with St John’s ambulance, where I was exposed to events I would have never attended; Six Nations Rugby, Ed Sheeran concert to name a few. I also helped during the overseas student’s orientation programme, where I met people from all over the world and helped them to settle in to University.” - Khan

“Most of my activities were based around fundraising. I was part of the Teaching Training Society and we raised money for various charities through different events and activities. I also worked at ZSL Whipsnade zoo during my years at University, where I gained so many skills - working with the public, dealing with parents, visitors and staff. There were even wallabies and peacocks to deal with walking into the zoo shop!” - Annabelle

“As a student I worked as a Student Ambassador and an Activator for Active Students. Both roles developed my communications skills as I was interacting with people from all over the world with different cultures, religions and age groups.” - Zainab

“I was also a student rep on my course, and even a member of the Tennis team, so I developed skills like confidence, quick decision making, time management and creativity.” - Zainab

What are your overall thoughts on the Go Herts Award?

“The Go Herts Award is a prestigious award and it looks great on your CV. It is also a great remembrance of your time at University as it helps you to reflect on everything you have done and the achievements you have made.” - Zainab

“The skills I gained through applying for the Award will definitely help me in the future.” - Zainab

How happy were you to receive your Go Herts Award?

“I was ecstatic when I found out I had achieved this award. It is nice to see I’m being recognised for helping other students and doing extra work.” - Annabelle

“I was so happy when I achieved the award. It was a hard few years at University, but it was nice to know that anything else I had done beyond studying was getting acknowledge – nice to know I was getting more than a degree.” - Annabelle

Do you have any advice?

“My biggest piece of advice is to get organised. For the award, you need to know the dates of things you’ve done and have things written down.” - Annabelle

Please remember, applications close on Thursday 23 May 2019. You can attend a Go Herts Award workshop to help you put your application together, and you can easily apply online at the Go Herts Award website. Good luck! 

If you have any questions about the Awards, please contact the team at gohertsaward@herts.ac.uk