Raquel Gomez Edo, MSc Food Safety and Control, scholarship recipient

After finishing high school in her native Spain, Raquel Gomez Edo was not sure about her next step. With the help of family and friends, she decided to study Agricultural Engineering at Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, where it quickly became clear she had found her calling.

"I enjoyed all of my lessons so much, and became incredibly passionate about the subject," says Raquel. "My final project required a lot of sacrifices too, something I could never have done if I hadn't believed so firmly in what I was doing. It took a full year to complete, working at the laboratory every day. Thankfully, all the hard work paid off in the end and the results were published in a scientific magazine as part of a wider investigation."

Natural choice

After finishing her degree, Raquel headed straight to London, to improve her qualifications and her English. LSBU was a natural choice for her to study MSc Food Safety & Control. "The course was already known at the university where I had studied for my undergraduate degree," she recalls. "The two universities even had some collaboration agreements, which I considered a guarantee of LSBU's good reputation."

Exceptional reputation

To be sure she was making the right choice, Raquel undertook plenty of research about the right university for her, and attended an LSBU open day to find out more. Doing so confirmed that the course was ideal for her. Thanks to the exceptional reputation of our MSc Food Safety & Control, Raquel believes her chances of starting what she describes as her "dream career" are greatly boosted.

Frank Brake Scholarship

Raquel's next step was to secure funding for her studies, and her research led her to discover the Frank Brake Scholarship. It is available thanks to LSBU alumnus and entrepreneur Frank Brake. There is one scholarship available to students enrolling on our MSC Food Safety & Control course, and is worth £4,000 towards fees. Read more about postgraduate scholarships.

Interview

"The application wasn't too difficult; all I had to do was gather together some documents and fill out a simple application form," Raquel says. "I was nervous about the interview, however, because I was aware of just how close I was to securing the funding I needed. It was a tough few days leading up to it, but in the end it all worked out and the questions weren't as difficult as I had thought they might be."

Absolutely delighted

When Raquel learned that she had been awarded with the scholarship, she was absolutely delighted – though needed to keep her concentration as she had an IELTS test a couple of days later, and needed to secure the grades she needed to be accepted onto the course. "The scholarship makes all the difference," Raquel beams. "Without it, there is no way I could have afforded the course fees and would probably have had to put off my studies for two or three years."

Build a career

Raquel now aims to build a career in food control. "I don't want to limit myself just yet, and will see where the future takes me," she says. "But I see myself providing good food control and carrying out new procedures to test the quality of groceries, and designing new products for big companies. I'd also like to keep doing some research and specialise in my field."