On Saturday 25 November 2017, The College of Animal Welfare’s head office in Cambridgeshire played host to the 2017 Student Awards Ceremony.
The annual awards celebrate and recognise the achievements of students who have displayed a high level of excellence, whether it be achieving high grades, overcoming personal challenges or making a positive impact within their group or to the College as a whole.
The event saw friends and families come together to congratulate and celebrate the hard work and efforts made by the award winners throughout the year. Katie Potter, Best Veterinary Nursing 1st Year Student (London), said, “The speech that my lecturer wrote, I was quite shocked about and it hit a hard spot in me because I’m not used to hearing people say things like that, so it’s really nice to hear that.”
Along with handing out awards, the ceremony also hosted a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Veterinary Nursing Declaration Ceremony, where newly qualified veterinary nurses made their professional declaration. One such veterinary nurse, Katie Day, who made her professional declaration at the ceremony said, “I’ve been working really, really hard for the past few years to qualify as a veterinary nurse and I’m really excited about today, about achieving my qualification.”
Barbara Cooper, Principal of The College of Animal Welfare, said, “It’s an occasion that they can look back with fond memories. Fond memories of the hard work that they had in achieving both their qualification and also the award that they received.”
She continued, “It’s a time when they’ve been able to celebrate with their family, their friends, their colleagues, and also those tutors who they have taken messages from, and I would hope that it’s an opportunity for them to really have huge pride in being able to share some of that in the future.”