Find your passion, be confident and take a chance

2012's winner of the First Year of the Year Award, Roberta Kovacs tells us what the real reason for applying for these awards is, and how it is not just something to write on a piece of paper. 

After receiving an e-mail from my department regarding some sort of "Economics undergraduate of the year" competition, I decided to take a brief skim through what the whole thing was about. Scrolling through the list of 12 awards that were open for application, the one that was most relevant to me was the "First Year of the Year Award". 

A short insight I would like to share. I think that the key to me being successful was that I did not make a big fuss out of the competition. One of the things I have noticed with fellow classmates and people in general, that I do not approve of, is this whole idea of "enhancing ones CV". Doing things that improve your skills and help you develop professionally and personally is imperative - but it has to be for yourself and not for how other people will perceive you. In other words, the drive should come from an inner passion to be better and not from being able to write on a piece of paper "I developed these skills". 

Of course, when you do things that enhance your skills it will automatically reflect on your resume - but the primary motive should never be how your CV looks. The most impressive and brilliant people I have met and work with are never concerned about their CV - but they always have an unbelievable amount of passion to improve and do something that they enjoy.

So that is probably the biggest advice - develop your skills for yourself. This will help you build not only your skills and personality, but it will also give you confidence in what you can or can not do. As I mentioned earlier, I was not too bothered about the competition - in that I was not overly stressed out. I took it very lightly, because I was confident in my skills and what I do. I knew that I will try my best to get through or win, but if there was someone who was better suited to win then it would happen whether I stressed about it or not. So relax, find your passion, work on yourself, be confident and take a chance. And most importantly - enjoy yourself. :)

If you decide to apply...Good luck with your application! :)

Roberta Kovacs