The Excellence Scholarship provided mother of two Rhoda Jacob the necessary financial support that allowed her to focus on her studies.
The money that the Accountancy student received from the scholarship went towards helping her reduce her working hours from full-time to 12 hours a week, along with allowing her to pay for childcare support and travel costs.
Before receiving the scholarship Rhoda had been under a lot of pressure juggling her family life, being a single parent to two children, and working and studying full-time.
She explained: “Prior to my application, I was on track for a first-class degree but was struggling to balance my studies, work and family life. It was taking its toll on me and was impacting on my studies. I was unable to focus well and was falling asleep in class most of the time. I heard about the Futures Funds scholarship, and I thought this is what I need to lessen the burden.”
In July 2018, Rhoda graduated with a first-class honours degree, a just reward for the hard work and dedication she had put in to her course.
The 41-year-old explained: “Thanks to the money I received I was able to balance family life, work and studies well. I also arrived to lectures on time and got involved in other extracurricular activities such as the Professional Mentoring Scheme as well as being a volunteer at my local library.”
Rhoda currently works as account analyst administrator in an accounting firm, where she was originally accepted to do her placement in her second year at the University.
“Working in an accounting firm has enabled me to work well under pressure and still meet deadlines,” she said. “I have also recently started a master’s degree in International Financial Analysis.”
She concluded: “I could not have achieved all of these without the Futures Fund. The scholarship gave me financial freedom when I needed it most and allowed me to be more focused academically.
“I would like to thank the donors for their generous support and kindness to people like me who they do not know. I would like them to know that it is well appreciated and no matter how little, it really goes a long way.”