Hurdler Julz drops in to honour students

GB athlete inspires with talk at award ceremony

STUDENT successes were honoured at an awards night by a GB athlete.

Uxbridge College students and employer partners were rewarded for their achievements by Great Britain 110m hurdler Julz Adeniran.

Julz presented awards to winners chosen from among the college’s 8,000plus full-time and parttime learners and its employer partners at the annual awards ceremony on September 15.

The event, held at The Beck Theatre, in Hayes, recognised winners chosen from across the college’s academic and vocational programmes, including GCSEs, A Levels, BTECs, apprenticeships and HNDs – and from among the 1,000 employers the college works with.

Successful students included overall winner Zanib Shahid, 20, who received the Super Star prize, sponsored by Lloyds Bank.

Across four years of study, on business courses and while completing maths and English qualifications, Zanib progressed from Level 1 to Level 3 – the equivalent of A Levels – and has now achieved a university place.

She joined the college in 2012 with few qualifications and very little spoken or written English, having newly arrived in the country from Pakistan.

She also combined part-time work with her studies after being offered a job at WH Smith following her work experience placement there. Zanib is now going to the University of Roehampton to study criminology.

Zanib was among a number of achievers presented with awards by Julz, who talked about his journey to becoming a competitive hurdler, his philosophy for success, and how his hopes for the 2016 Olympics were dashed when his Achilles tendon snapped while training.

He encouraged the audience to focus on their goals and emphasised the role of applying selfdiscipline in achieving success, as well as being prepared to keep going after failures and disappointments.

He also talked about his hero Usain Bolt and even took a selfie with the audience while striking the famous Bolt celebratory pose.

Principal of Uxbridge College Laraine Smith said: “Our awards ceremony with special guest 110m hurdler Julz Adeniran was a wonderful celebration of the successes of our students, our employer partners, and the college as a whole – congratulations to everyone.

“For our students we had a chance to recognise their many achievements, including their academic and vocational achievements, which are often fulfilled despite many challenges, and the many contributions they make to their peer groups and communities.

“Our awards in the employment- re l at e d training category were also a real reflection of how important business partnerships and workbased training is, not only to the college and our students but to our broader community as a whole.

“Julz was a real inspiration to everyone and made the evening really special, and I’d like to say a big thank you to him.”

HONOURS: The students at the awards night; (left) Zanib Shahid with hurdler Julz Adeniran