Nabeela takes home national student employee award

31st July 2017

A Sheffield Hallam University law student has been crowned the national champion at the Student Employee of the Year Awards.

20-year-old Nabeela Mowlana took home the overall title of Student Employee of the Year having earlier won the National Above and Beyond Award category at the National Association of Student Employment Services (NASES) awards dinner. Nabeela received her awards for her work as a youth engagement officer at The Element Society, a youth led organisation delivering social action and enterprise programmes across South Yorkshire. To reach the NASES national final, Nabeela won the two initial rounds at institution and regional level. Richard Ripley, National Citizen Service manager at The Element Society, nominated Nabeela for the award. He said: "From day one Nabeela's passion and dedication for working with young people was clear and I have lost count of the number of times she has gone above and beyond for both the organisation and the young people we work with. "She has a genuine belief and drive that all young people should have the opportunity to reach their full potential. She also has a very shrewd and creative business mind and has been an integral part of many new project proposals during her time working for Element." Nabeela has just completed the first year of her law degree and currently works 20 hours a week for The Element Society alongside her studies. Nabeela said: "I was very surprised when my name was read out for the award. I'd spoken to some of the other nominees ahead of the ceremony and they all had such fantastic achievements, so it was a bit overwhelming to be awarded the national title. "The careers service at Sheffield Hallam has always been beyond helpful. By tailoring opportunities to each course, they have also been able to support me with a volunteering post at the Red Cross Refugee Family Reunion programme. "I hope to pursue a career in law and following my work experience with the Red Cross I'm leaning towards international human rights." The awards evening was held in Nottingham as part of a two-day annual event at which higher education institutions from across the UK come together to celebrate and share best practice around student employment. Sheffield Hallam received the second most number of nominations of any university in the UK. James Beighton, student employment coordinator at Sheffield Hallam, said: "Nabeela stood out among thousands of students across the UK and she should be very proud of her achievement. "It is inspiring to see such commitment from a student who has only just finished her first year at the University. Nabeela is definitely a leader of the future." James was also voted on to the board of NASES at the two-day conference.