{"id":3180,"date":"2026-09-11T08:01:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T07:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/?p=3180"},"modified":"2026-09-03T11:16:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T10:16:31","slug":"more-than-a-degree-reflection-on-my-bath-award-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/2026\/09\/11\/more-than-a-degree-reflection-on-my-bath-award-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"More than a degree: Reflection on my Bath Award journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi. I'm Harshal<\/a>. When I first arrived at the University of Bath, my goals were straightforward: pass my exams, make a few friends, and somehow survive the steep walk up Bathwick Hill. But as the time flew by, I realized that the real university experience happens outside the lecture halls. That realization is exactly what led me to register for the Bath Award<\/a> - a journey that completely changed my perspective on what it means to be a graduate.<\/p>\n

Student leadership with SUmmit<\/h3>\n

My first step was becoming a student leader by joining SUmmit<\/a>. As the key representative body for students, SUmmit is the democratic core of the Students' Union. Serving on this committee provided a firsthand look at university governance and policy. I was actively involved in scrutinizing policy proposals, influencing SU direction, and holding student officers accountable. This was not a passive role; it demanded critical analysis and communication skills to ensure the student voice was not just heard but acted upon. It taught me the nuances of Collaboration<\/strong> and the responsibility of leadership within a complex, diverse community.<\/p>\n

The challenge of real-world impact<\/h3>\n

The centre of my experience was taking part in the intense Rotork Community Challenge<\/a>. This initiative, which bridges corporate engagement and community need, placed me on a team tasked with a crucial project for Mentoring Plus<\/a>, a local charity dedicated to improving the lives of young people.<\/p>\n

Our goal was to design, create, and brand a new \"Wellbeing Box\" which is a product intended to offer positive support and encouragement to vulnerable young people. This was a true test of my ability to apply academic strategic thinking to a tangible product. Over seven intense weeks, we navigated everything from market research and target audience empathy to professional product design and versatile branding suitable for future corporate partnerships.<\/p>\n

The intensity of this challenge required significant Resilience<\/strong>. It was demanding and strategic work, requiring constant adaptability. A major point of pride, which I shared at the time on my LinkedIn profile<\/a>, was that our strategic approach and the quality of our results earned us the Runner-Up position in the overall challenge. More importantly, it confirmed the powerful impact corporate engagement can have on vital community initiatives like Mentoring Plus.<\/p>\n

Upskilling beyond the classroom<\/h3>\n

To truly target the award's core capabilities, the journey required us to look inward and actively upskill. I didn't just rely on what I already knew; I had to attend interactive workshops, dive into targeted further reading, and complete structured online courses. These modules were specifically designed to sharpen our Resilience, Communication, Professionalism, <\/strong>and Collaboration<\/strong>. Learning the theory behind these skills allowed me to immediately apply them to my roles on campus.<\/p>\n

A final reflection<\/h3>\n

The journey wraps up with a final reflective submission, evaluating our growth. Looking back at the goals I set when I registered, I can honestly say I've met them and then some.<\/p>\n

To anyone at Bath thinking about registering for the next cohort: do it<\/strong>. The Bath Award forces you to step out of your comfort zone, recognize your own value, and prove that you are ready for whatever comes next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi. I'm Harshal. When I first arrived at the University of Bath, my goals were straightforward: pass my exams, make a few friends, and somehow survive the steep walk up Bathwick Hill. But as the time flew by, I realized...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1962,"featured_media":3181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[760,754,756],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pgt-student-story","category-student-story","category-the-bath-award"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2026\/06\/Blog-post-images-43.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1962"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}