Winner of the Sports, Culture and Creativity award, Rahul Rajakumar

Business School graduate, Jimeet Romen Shah

Congratulations to University of Sussex Business School students who were among the 510 undergraduate finalists to receive gold, silver, and bronze awards at this year’s Spirit of Sussex Awards ceremony.

The ceremony, held in the University of Sussex’s Student Centre on 7 June, was opened by first year Business School fintech student Haajadri Srikaran. Marlena Jagoda (BSc Marketing & Management) won a special prize in the Commitment to Upskilling category. BSc Economics finalist Rahul Rajakumar won a special prize in the Sports, Culture and Creativity category.

A Sussex alumni panel, including Business School graduate Jimeet Romen Shah (BSc Business and Management Studies 2022) shared their co-curricular and voluntary experiences, how the awards kept them motivated and their careers advice for delegates.

The Spirit of Sussex Awards scheme celebrates students’ extracurricular and voluntary achievements whilst studying at Sussex. By taking part in different activities, such as part-time work or volunteering, they can gain points towards either a gold, silver, or bronze award. These awards help students feel involved in life at Sussex, build their social networks and help with career development.

Rahul Rajakumar was delighted to receive his Sports, Culture and Creativity prize along with his gold Spirit of Sussex Award. He joined Sussex in 2018 on a foundation year before progressing on to his degree. In his first year he created the Tamil Society with friends to build a sense of community. They hosted a Pongal show with traditional Tamil dancing, singing, culture, and food.

Rahul said:

“It was amazing seeing so many Tamils as well as non-Tamils engage with my culture and heritage - something I was once embarrassed about when I came to school here in the UK as a child of two refugees. I learnt to be proud and share my culture rather than hide and be as British as possible. Unfortunately, the pandemic cut this year short which was sad because it felt like I just found my footing.

“In my second year, I joined the Hindu Society as a sports coordinator to promote South Asians taking up sports as that was and still is 'taboo'. We're raised to solely focus on our education, and I believe incorporating some form of physical activity, especially at university which can be quite stressful, would be greatly beneficial to South Asian students. I also joined the Economics Society as Vice-President as I was passionate about my degree, and this involved hosting quiz nights and talks with guest speakers.”

During his placement year, Rahul worked at the Department for Work and Pensions as part of the cost benefit analysis team. This experience confirmed that he would like to develop a career in the public sector.

Rahul continued:

“Returning in my final year, I re-joined the Tamil Society as well as the BAME society as Vice-President. I finally got to bring my sports vision alive by hosting weekly football and netball sessions where anyone was welcome to play and where many friendships were formed. That was something I'm immensely proud of. After graduating from Sussex, I’m going on to study a master’s degree in Local Economic Development at the London School of Economics. I think my society work was a factor in securing a place.

“I’d like to thank my tutors and academic advisors for their support during my five years at Sussex, including Deborah Sperring, Student Academic Advisor, and Professor Sambit Bhattacharyya and Dr Rashaad Shabab, who both shared similar values on community and the effects of having a sense of belonging has on students.”

Alumnus Jimeet Romen Shah provided a case study in a career advice session for award delegates on how to best to evidence their skills in applications using the STAR technique. He said:

“It was an honour to be invited, speak to award winners, and celebrate all their achievements. It truly reminded me of my time at Sussex and gave me a chance to reminisce. Congratulations to all award recipients and I wish them prosperous graduate careers.”

Current students can sign up to the Spirit of Sussex programme through the Student Hub.

For more information on the Awards Ceremony, please see the Student Hub News section.