Laura Rutkowski & Selena Randhawa
Student of the Year
"To be recognised as the PPA’s Student of the Year, alongside my fellow MA Magazine Journalism course mate from City, University of London, Selena Randhawa, was a huge honour. It really was a surreal moment when I heard my name called – I was overjoyed! What’s crazy is that at the beginning of my master’s, my class was told about the PPA and its prestigious industry awards, and I thought to myself, “Next year, I’m going to win the Student of the Year Award!” It really was the benchmark that drove me and me motivated throughout my course as a goal I wanted to achieve. Now my trophy has pride of place in my room and I look at it every day! I feel very proud of everything I’ve accomplished so far – not only in my academic life, but also my professional life. To be surrounded by the very best of the best in the industry at the 30 Under 30 event at the stunning LSO St Luke’s was inspiring to say the least. There are so many different routes you can take to get into publishing. For example, I now work in content marketing at Redwood on the Virgin TV Edit. It wasn’t an area I was massively aware of before, but it turned out to be perfect for me. With the PPA Student of the Year Award under my belt, it helped to get my writing and me noticed and I haven’t looked back since!"
Laura Rutkowski