A Business Management and Finance student's article on housing has so impressed industry experts she has been named a runner-up for a new scholarship.
Yulduz Mazhitova's prize is having her article published by Trade Finance Global (TFG) and valuable training via the company's e-learning programme.
Plus, the De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) student has been asked to write another article by TFG, which launched the Accelerate Scholarship this year to help motivated undergraduates get ahead in their careers.
Yulduz said: "If you really want to do something, nothing can stop you."
For the scholarship, Yulduz was asked to write an article from a broad list of topics. With a tight deadline and not much spare time due to work commitments and a #DMUglobal trip to New York, Yulduz struggled for inspiration - until she arrived in the Big Apple.
"On my second day I woke up at 3am and started writing and the ideas built up. I wrote about millennials in the US and house prices, as I'd studied this for a module."
Doing the same again and then completing her piece in the early hours after flights back to the UK and then on to Russia for a holiday, Yulduz submitted her work.
She was thrilled with the feedback. "TFG said it was very interesting. More than 2,000 articles were submitted but less than 30 were published.
"Part of the prize is online training. It's all related to finance and I can boost my knowledge."
This is one of many achievements for 21-year-old Yulduz, for whom English is her fourth language.
Born in Kyrgyzstan, she spoke Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Russian, learning basic English at school. The family came to the UK several years ago, settling in Leicester.
"It was difficult to communicate and understand people at first, but I got used to it and feel a part of this society," she said.
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Already interested in finance, Yulduz's desire to learn more about business grew during a post-A-levels gap year working in retail.
She liked the combination of business and finance offered by the DMU course.
"I am enjoying DMU," said Yulduz, who has just started her third year. "It gives opportunities to students who want to develop themselves."
Yulduz believes the international experiences offered through #DMUglobal improve employability and academic knowledge.
She has been to Denmark, attending presentations on money laundering and finding out about art forgeries, as well as New York.
"I learnt a lot through opportunities not open to the general public," she said. "We went to the United Nations and Bloomberg HQ. It was a privilege to go there."
Back on campus, Yulduz has volunteered with Collective Action to organise a celebration for Eid al-Adha, 'Festival of Sacrifice', in collaboration with other De Montfort Students' Union (DSU) societies.
"It had such good feedback that the DSU has decided to organise the event again next year," she said.
She has also studied for a Bloomberg Market Concepts certificate to gain insight into the financial market and is further broadening her knowledge through her part-time role as a customer representative with Nationwide building society.
Yulduz's efforts have already landed her an invitation to an assessment centre for a graduate scheme with Morgan Stanley, one of the world's biggest banks.
"It's everyone's dream to work in an investment back, so I'll see how it goes," she added.
You can read Yulduz's article, Eye On: Expensive Cities and House Prices, by clicking here.
Posted on Monday 8 October 2018